


Spirit Cats: Summer

by Eastofthemoon



Series: Spirit Cats [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Children, Family, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Gen, Sleepy Cuddles, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-02 13:13:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 43,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11510154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eastofthemoon/pseuds/Eastofthemoon
Summary: 10 year old Keith has not had an easy school year, but when his cousin, Shiro, inherits an old farmhouse, they both see it as a fresh start and move there.  However, there is more to this place than meets the idea. With stories of spirits living in the forest, Keith's new friends owning very strange cats, and mysterious hunters lurking around, Keith is certain something very strange is going on.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, all! This is the fic I wrote for the [Voltron Gen Mini Bang](https://voltrongenminibang.tumblr.com/)
> 
> My artist for this was [Creatures-from-Starlight](http://creatures-from-starlight.tumblr.com/) and you should totally go check out their awesome artwork in chapter 9 of this fic which you can see [ HERE](http://creatures-from-starlight.tumblr.com/post/163601811188/my-contribution-for-the-voltrongenminibang-my)
> 
> Hope you all like this and enjoy the lovely artwork!

A bright full moon was normally her and her sisters’ favourite kind of night. It made good for hunting, and there was less of a chance of local town’s people to see them leaping from tree to tree in the moonlight.

But ever since the hunters arrived, they were lucky if they could poke their tail out without being caught. Tonight, they had almost caught her sister Green, and that had been far too close. They had noticed some dried meat had been left out and Green had taken it upon herself to investigate. She had barely taken a sniff when she found herself caught in a snare and heard the beeping of some kind of machine.

Black could hear the hunters cry out in triumph as they raced towards their spot. Despite the pain of the wire cutting into Green’s paw, they had managed to free her, but barely before the hunters had arrived.

They ran at top speed. Yellow carried Green on her back and no one dared to stop until they were in the safety of the branches of the tallest tree in the whole Altea forest.

_Sister, how are you feeling?_ Black asked as she nuzzled Green’s head. 

_I’m fine,_ Green growled as she climbed off of Yellow, wincing as her paw landed. 

Red growled as her tail twitched back and forth. _You don’t look fine, I should find those two hunters and rip their throats out._

Black shook her head. _You know very well you can’t do that in your current state. At best, you might be able to scratch them before they catch you._

_We have to do something,_ Blue argued as she paced on the tree branch and flicked her ears. _These hunters are not giving up._

Black growled; they all had been suspicious of the pair ever since they appeared in their woods. Black wished to believe they were merely campers like the previous ones had been, but they were wrong. The traps they had set were far too numerous for an average hunter, and both Red and Yellow had watched the pair attempt to follow their pawprints. Not to mention the two of them reeked of greed.

There was only one thing these kind of people were after, and it was clear they weren’t going to stop until they had all five of the sisters in their hands.

These were not the first pair of hunters to come after them, but they were proving to be the most stubborn.

_What should we do then?_ Yellow asked. _If we can’t fight them, that leaves only hiding, and they’ll find us eventually no matter where we are in the forest._

Green was still limping, but Black saw her sister grin. _Perhaps what we need is a better hiding place._

Black narrowed her eyes. _What are you plotting, Green?_

_We find a human to stay with,_ Green voiced. _We do appear to be normal cats to them, and it would provide each of us with food and shelter._

Red scoffed. _Be serious._

_I am,_ Green insisted. _The hunters are less likely to chase after us if the other humans believe we are nothing more than pets. Humans do get very protective of things like that._

_True,_ Black agreed. _Hiding in a human home would keep us safe at night as well._

Red’s eyes widened in shock, and she growled. _Please, tell me you’re not serious, sister!_

_I think it’s a great idea,_ Yellow purred.

You would! Red argued. 

_Actually,_ Blue muttered. _There is a human boy I’ve had my eye on for awhile._

_Oh, the one that goes swimming in the pond?_ Green asked. _There is a girl that hangs around him that I quite like. Seems very inquisitive._

_Oh, and there is that boy from the bakery that is often with them,_ Yellow said. _He’s always quite friendly to the birds, and he smells nice._

Red looked at them as if they had grown a second head. _You are serious?!_ She looked to Black with a desperate plea. _Sister, please be on my side here! This is a terrible idea!_

Black nuzzled Red’s head. _Calm down, and I’m afraid I do agree with them. This is exactly the kind of plan we need. We each just need to find the perfect human for each of us to ‘belong’ to._

Red hissed. _You four maybe happy with this plan, but I can tell you it will be impossible to find a human that pleases me! I will never let myself be treated as a pet._

Black grinned at her. _Never say never, Sister. I’m certain there is one for you, it’s just a matter of finding that person._

080808080808080808080808080

Keith was not a patient person by nature, and his patience was decreasing rapidly the longer he was forced to sit here. He fingered at the band-aids on his cheek as he stared at the clock. Normally, he and Shiro would be halfway home by now.

“Don’t pull on your band aids,” the principal glanced up from reading what Keith assumed to be his file.

“Well, I’m bored,” Keith shot a glare across the desk at the man.

“You should have thought of that before getting into a fight,” the principal remarked in a firm tone as he shook a pen. “You’re 10, Keith. You’re old enough to put thought into your actions, but I will discuss the matter with your father when he gets here.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Shiro isn’t my dad.”

The principal was taken aback and took the pen back like he’d been stabbed. “Pardon?”

“He’s my cousin,” Keith explained, “and technically my foster dad. Remember?”

To be accurate, Shiro was his mom’s first cousin, but Keith knew that it had already been explained to the guy a few dozen times now. How could this guy keep forgetting? Frankly, Keith didn’t even bother to explain that detail anymore.

“Oh..well, yes, but that doesn’t change the matter at hand, young man,” the principal replied, but was cut off as the secretary opened the office door. 

“Sir, Mister Shirogane is here,” she stated.

“Send him in,” the principal said as he straightened the papers into a neat pile and leaned back in his chair.

Keith gulped. All his resentment and smart remarks evaporated as the person he hated to disappoint the most entered.

Shiro locked eyes with Keith momentarily and gave a sigh as went to sit next to him. 

“Hello, Mister Peterson,” Shiro greeted as he removed his jacket. “What’s the problem this time?”

The principal narrowed his eyes. “It’s the same problem from the last three times we’ve called you in, Mister Shirogane. Fighting, and this school can not tolerate-”

The man was cut off as Shiro folded his jacket in his lap and gave a clear view of his prosthetic arm. 

“Yes?” Shiro asked with a raised eyebrow. “You were saying?”

The principal shut his mouth and cleared his throat as he tugged at his tie. 

“Oh..uh, yes. Keith has gotten into another fight, and he’s lucky he didn’t break the boy’s arm- I mean bone!” He straightened his tie. “I meant bone.”

Keith repressed a snicker. He wasn’t surprised by the startled reaction. Shiro’s arm always seemed to make the man nervous. Considering he knew Shiro didn’t like the principal anymore than he did, Keith sometimes wondered if he showed off his arm on purpose.

“I wasn’t going to break anything,” Keith argued. “And Jim started it-”

“Easy, Keith,” Shiro said as he touched the boy’s shoulder. “Listen, why don’t you wait outside? I won’t be long.”

Keith chewed his bottom lip, but gave a sigh in defeat. “Alright,” he said as he shot the principal one more dark glare and proceed to exit the office. His shoulders slumped as he shut the door behind him and dropped into the chair.

“Summer vacation can’t come soon enough,” he muttered. 

For several minutes Keith stared up at the ceiling as he heard the muffled voices from behind the door. Shiro’s voice suddenly grew loud for a minute and caused both Keith and the secretary to jump, but the voices settled down again.

_Wonder what he said that got Shiro so angry?_ Keith thought, grimly.

If it was one thing Keith appreciated about Shiro, it was his patience. It was definitely something his previous foster parents had always lacked.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, Shiro opened the office door as he putting his jacket on.

“I can promise I will talk to Keith about his actions,” he said briskly as he took Keith’s hand. “Have a good day.”

“If you wish for him to have a future at this school, you better,” the principal replied. He then gave Keith a stern look before shutting the door.

Shiro shook his head as he lead Keith to the door. “Come on, Buddy, let’s go home.”

Keith nodded, then noticed Shiro dumping something into the wastebasket.

“What was that?” Keith asked as he tried to look, but Shiro gave a sharp tug.

“Nothing, just some trash I’m getting rid of,” Shiro said with a reassuring smile. “Let’s just go so you and I can have a talk.”

Keith winced slightly, but said nothing as he followed Shiro to the car. Neither said a word until both were sitting in the front seats and both doors were shut.

Shiro took a deep breath before turning to face Keith. “Okay, tell me what happened.”

Keith folded his arms. “Didn’t Mister Peterson already tell you?”

“He told what he thought happened,” Shiro replied as he leaned an arm on the steering wheel. “However, I would like your side of the story.”

Keith rubbed his neck. “It was Jim. He got on my nerves and wouldn’t leave me alone until I punched him.”

It wasn’t the first time either. Keith always tried to keep to himself, but Jim and his stupid friend always seemed to enjoy poking Keith until they could get a reaction out of him.

“Keith, we’ve been through this,” Shiro said gently. “I understand why you don’t like that kid, but that doesn’t mean you should be getting into fights.” He patted Keith’s shoulder. “He’s not worth it.”

Keith narrowed his eyes. “I don’t fight him because I want to, but he won’t leave me alone unless I do.”

Shiro sighed as he rubbed his eyes. “It’s been a long day for both of us,” he said softly and smiled. “Let’s go home, and we’ll talk more about this later after we have some food in our stomachs, okay?”

Keith leaned back as he fiddled with his fingerless gloves. “Yeah, alright.”

Shiro ruffled Keith’s hair before turning on the engine of the car and pulling out of the parking lot. Keith turned his head to the window as the music of the radio began to echo.

_Two weeks to summer vacation_ , Keith told himself. _Can’t come soon enough._

08080808080808080808080

After a dinner of a frozen pizza and a small salad Shiro managed to throw together, Keith went to his room to do his homework and Shiro retreated to his office with a mug of tea to finish his article. Shiro knew he should talk to Keith about the fight, but what else could he say?

It would be the exact same conversation they had had a dozen times already. Shiro would tell Keith he shouldn’t fight, and Keith would say he would try only for the whole thing to repeat itself. 

Granted, I can’t blame him, Shiro thought as he loaded up the document on the computer. _If that Jim kid kept picking on me, I wouldn’t stand for it either._

He sighed as he stared at the screen waiting for the words to magically type from his hands, but none came. He couldn’t focus, not with the annoying voice of Mister Peterson still echoing in his head.

“I realize Keith is a difficult child,” Mister Peterson said as he held out some pamphlets, “and summer is only two weeks away. However, you may wish to enroll him in a boarding school next year that is use to dealing with..’problematic children’.”

It was at that point Shiro lost his temper and promptly told the man that that wasn’t happening. However, Mister Peterson refused to let the subject drop unless Shiro at least took the pamphlet. So, Shiro did and made certain to toss them in the garbage before they left the office.

Shiro rubbed his neck as he leaned back in the chair. “Sending Keith to a boarding school is the last thing he needs,” he muttered grimly.

The last few years had not been kind to the boy. Keith had lost his mother when he was 8 and ended up being tossed around by different foster homes when no one in the family volunteered to take him in. It killed Shiro he hadn’t been able to take him in from the start, and he was still annoyed at his parents for not telling him about his cousin’s passing.

Although, he couldn’t blame them either. Shiro was dealing with the loss of his own arm and other inner demons at the time. It wouldn’t exactly have been a great home for Keith, but that was then. 

Shiro now had full custody of Keith, and they both had come a long way in the past year learning how to live together. It hadn’t been easy, but somehow they made it work

Shiro refused to ruin that by sending Keith to a boarding school. Yet, he couldn’t deny that the principal had a point. Keith was not adapting well to that school. The kid was a loner with no friends and seemed to be a prime target for the other kids to pick fights with. 

Keith’s grades were decent, but Shiro knew the boy was smarter than he let on. However, the teachers there were already swamped with the students they had, and Keith couldn’t care less about being there. 

Keith needed a place where he could thrive, a place he could grow and have friends to connect with, and that school wasn’t it.

The ringing of his cellphone returned Shiro to the waking world. He reached for it assuming it was his editor calling, only to discover it was his mother’s number.

He frowned. Odd time of day for her to call, Shiro thought as he hit the receive button and brought the phone to his ear.

“Hi, Mom,” he he leaned over to reach for his tea. “You okay?”

“Everything is fine, dear,” his mother said. “How is Keith doing? School is almost over isn’t it?”

Shiro chewed his bottom lip. His parents hadn’t thought Shiro taking Keith in was a wise decision. They meant well, but he doubt they would be that supportive if they knew the trouble Keith was having in school.

He forced a laugh. “Oh, yeah, he’s great; he’s just counting the days until it’s summer.”

It was partly true. Keith was dying for school to be over and done. So, it wasn’t a total lie.

“Well, that’s good,” his mother replied and cleared her throat. “Listen, dear, the reason I’m calling is because your Uncle Yoshi's lawyer contacted us regarding his will.”

“Oh?” Shiro said as he reached for his tea. 

He had forgotten that was happening. The funeral had been a few weeks ago. He hadn’t brought Keith along since he was afraid it would bring back bad memories of his mother’s death. 

Frankly, Shiro hadn’t been certain if the funeral would bring bad memories to the surface again for himself. Yet, Shiro took the risk. He had always liked his Uncle Yoshi, and he at least wanted to say goodbye to him.

Thankfully, the service had been short and quick, the exact way his uncle would have wanted it, which made it bearable for Shiro.

“Do you remember his old farmhouse?” his mother asked. “The one he lived in before he went to the nursing home?”

“Course I do,” Shiro said as he sipped his tea. “I spent like five summers there.”

He gave a wistful smile. That had been an awesome place to go to as a kid. He had made some of his best memories there.

“He...left it to you, Shiro,” his mother said, “the whole property.”

Shiro spat out his drink and coughed. “W-what?!” he gasped as he wiped his mouth.

“The lawyer would have called you directly, but he didn’t have your number so he called us,” his mother continued. “He sent us a copy of the will, and I said I would tell you-”

“Slow down, Mom,” Shiro said as he left his chair and began to pace. “Why me? What about Akane?”

She was Yoshi’s daughter for heaven’s sake. Shouldn’t the property go to her?

“She was with us, and apparently had told her father years ago she didn’t want it,” his mother replied. “She was the one that suggested to Yoshi that he leave it to you since he was so determined to keep it in the family.”

Stunned, Shiro plopped back down in the chair. “What am I going to do with an old farm house?”

“I know, dear,” his mother replied. “It’s not like you can move there.”

Shiro’s brain suddenly clicked at the words. He turned in his chair as he stared out his apartment window and over the cityview before him. Moving to a new place would mean a new start, both for him and for Keith.

“So, listen Shiro,” his mother said and brought Shiro back to reality. “I know Yoshi meant well, but I’m certain he would not have been offended if you sell it-”

“Actually, I might take it,” he said as he rose and leaned against the wall.

His mother paused. “What? Shiro, that place is falling apart.”

“I know, but I just want to dwell on it for a bit,” he said as he sat back down in the chair. “Can you give me the number of that lawyer? I’ll let you know what I decide.”

His mother was clearly confused, but did as Shiro asked, and they said goodbye to each other. Shiro stared at the number as he tapped his pen. He then picked up the phone and went to dial the number. If this was a serious option, he needed to do some research first before talking to Keith about it.

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The next two weeks were the longest in Keith’s life. He did his best to focus on finishing up his assignments and not fighting with Jim. It wasn’t easy, but he promised Shiro he would try. 

“Two weeks is all I ask,” Shiro said. “I’m looking into something that I think will help you with school next year.”

Keith was doubtful, but he felt bad for letting Shiro down with all the previous fights he’d gotten into. So, as frustrating and aggravating as it was to ignore Jim and his dumb friends, Keith did so. He had never been so happy to hear the school bell after his teacher wished them a good summer.

Keith made a direct beeline for the door and was one of the first kids to hit the paved steps outside the building. Shiro was standing by the car and waved to Keith from the bottom step.

“Ready to celebrate freedom?” he asked as Keith dashed towards him.

“You bet,” Keith replied as he looped around to get into the passenger side and slumped in the seat. “We ordering pizza?”

“Yup,” Shiro said, “and think we should snag some ice cream on the way home.”

Keith grinned as he leaned back. His eyes drifted to the back seat, and frowned as he spotted a small folder full of papers. “What’s that?” he pointed. 

Shiro glanced back. “Oh, that’s just some research I’ve been doing,” he said.

“For your article?” Keith asked as he folded his arms. “I thought you said you were taking a break.”

Keith had eavesdropped when Shiro had called his editor to let him know he needed to take a month off from writing, but he didn’t bother to listen to exactly why.

Shiro gave a shaky laugh. “I am, it’s not for an article. It’s for something else I’m looking into.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. He knew that smile. That was a clear ‘I’m not hiding anything at all, so just believe me’ kind of smile he’d seen adults use before. 

“What is it exactly?” he said.

Shiro stopped at a light. “Nothing bad, I swear, Buddy,” he said as he ruffled Keith’s hair. “We’ll talk about it later, alright?”

Keith frowned suspiciously as Shiro turned the next corner. Before long, Keith sitting in a booths as he watched Shiro order and pay. He had expected a regular chocolate ice cream cone, but found a small sundae sitting in front of him.

“Here you go, buddy,” Shiro said as he sat down with his regular vanilla cone. “Congrats, on the school year.”

Keith didn’t eat. He stared at the ice cream as he gripped his shorts anxiously.

Shiro’s smile vanished, and he lowered his cone. “What’s wrong?”

Keith narrowed his eyes. “Shiro, are you trying to butter me up?”

Shiro leaned back and flexed his arm over the top of the booth. “Why would you ask that? We get ice cream all the time.”

“We get regular ice cream cones,” Keith said as he picked up the spoon. “The last time you got me a sundae, I had to stay with your parents for a few days when you went on that business trip.”

Keith hadn’t minded Shiro’s parents, they were nice enough, but Keith barely knew them. It had been an awkward weekend staying in their house. He spent most of the time reading and sketching as he hoped to stay out of their way.

Shiro sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “Alright, you caught me,” he said as he leaned forward. “I wanted to us to have a chat later, but I guess we’ll have it now.”

Keith went tensed. “About what?”

“I know the last school year has been rough on you,” Shiro explained, “and I doubt it will improve next year. So, it’s time for a change.”

Keith gulped and tried not to show his body shaking. “So...you’re getting rid of me?”

Shiro’s face turned into a look of horror. “What? Keith, no, of course not!”

Keith’s body relaxed slightly, but he still wasn’t convinced. “Really?”

“Of course,” Shiro insisted as he patted Keith’s arm. “Why would you assume otherwise?”

Keith let out the air he’d been holding in as he finally reached for his spoon. “Because that’s what my other foster parents said before they gave me to someone else.”

He noticed Shiro’s eyes flinch and saw a flash of anger. Shiro also got that expression whenever Keith talked of how his previous foster parents treated him.

Shiro took a deep breath before speaking again. “Sorry, Kiddo, didn’t mean to scare you. I was going to explain there needs to be a change for us together.” 

Keith poked his spoon into the half melted ice cream. “What kind of change? Me into a different school?”

“That’s part of the idea,” Shiro explained as he took a lick of his ice cream. “Do you remember Uncle Yoshi? The one who passed away a few months back? I know your mom took you to see him once.”

Keith frowned. “Vaguely,” he said as he rubbed his neck. “He lived in a nursing home, didn’t he?”

He had seen him once when he was about five. Keith didn’t remember much about the visit, except that the guy had a lot of bad jokes and liked to play checkers.

“Before the nursing home, he use to live in a farmhouse out in the country,” Shiro explained and laughed. “I must have spent a dozen summers there, and so did your mom.”

Keith glanced up intrigued. “She did?” His mom did mention she used to visit Yoshi a lot when she was a younger.

Shiro gave a nod as leaned over the table. “Well, turns out that he left the farmhouse and the land to me in his will.”

Keith blinked and tilted his head. “Wait..so you own a farm?”

“It’s not exactly a farm,” Shir explained, “but it’s out in the country, and I believe this might be a good opportunity for the both of us.”

Keith scratched his head. “Um..okay, you mean you’re going to sell it?”

Shiro shook his head. “No, I think you and I should move there.”

Keith opened and shut his mouth. “Move..to the country..and live in an old farmhouse?”

“I’ve been reading up about it,” Shiro explained. “They’ve got a good school, it’s in a nice town, and there’s even a forest you can go exploring in.”

Keith gave a skeptical look as he put a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth and looked out the window. He’s lived in the same city for all of his live. Keith had grown up on the sounds of cars honking, busy streets and buildings every where he looked. Going to a place that had none of that was a giant leap to make.

“What about you?” Keith asked slowly. “Are you still going to be able to do your job?”

Shiro gave a small smile. “Nice thing about being a writer is that I can work from just about everywhere.”

That didn’t surprise Keith, but there was a more daunting question in his mind. “What about...your PTSD?”

Shiro faltered at that slightly, but he always did when Keith brought it up. When Keith came to live with Shiro, he had explained to the boy that he had some ‘issues,’ and he was still recovering from his time in the military. Shiro never went into great detail about, and he always assured Keith he was fine, which he figured. 

He doubted Shiro’s therapist would allow him to take in a child to raise if he wasn’t. Yet, there were times Shiro looked lost and seemed to briefly forget where he was until Keith touched his shoulder to ground him. Keith was constantly doing his best to take care of him, and he couldn’t help but worry about him.

Shiro’s eyes softened at Keith and he reached over to ruffle his hair. “My therapist says it should be fine, and gave me a list of counselors I can contact.” He gave a shrug. “We went over the pros and cons, and I think the pros outweigh the cons.”

Keith’s eyes widened slightly. “What kind of pros?”

“Country is quieter,” Shiro explained and seemed to ignore the ice cream that was dripping on his hands. “It’s lower stress, and from what I read about the place, it’s a friendly area.”

Keith frowned as he absorbed this. “So..moving to this old farmhouse would be better for you?”

Shiro nodded. “And I believe you too, a new start for both of us.” His smile then changed to a firm frown. “However, I want us to make this decision together.” 

He waved a finger at him. “If you absolutely think you would be miserable there, then we’ll sell the place or ask one of my other relatives to buy it.”

Keith tapped his spoon against the ice cream bowl. What were his pros and cons? 

Con, he would have to leave the city he’s always known. Pro, wouldn’t have to go to that dumb school again. Pro, no more Jim and his stupid friends. Con, leave his favorite shops behind. Pro, would be good for Shrio. Con, leave his friends behind. Pro, Keith didn’t really have any friends to leave behind anyway. Pro, would have way more space in a house than the apartment. Pro, wouldn’t have to deal with car alarms waking him up in the middle of the night.

Plus, Shiro clearly wanted to do this.

Keith sighed as he swallowed and gave a slow nod. “Okay..I’ll go too,” Keith replied.

Shiro gave him a hard look. “And you’re not just saying that to make me happy?” he asked. “I wasn’t joking, buddy. I won’t have us move there if you don’t want to.”

Keith shook his head. “It’s not like I have much going here anyway.”

Shiro gave a small sad smile at that and patted Keith’s head. “Alright, then,” he said as he reached for a napkin to wipe off his hand. “I have to make a few calls to make it official, but we should be able to move soon.”

Keith gave a nod as he returned to his mostly melted ice cream. He silently prayed he wasn’t going to regret this decision.

08080808080808080808080808080808080

Moving day came much faster than Keith had anticipated. He sensed Shiro wanted to be settled into their new place as soon as they were able to. Keith had tried his best to stay out of Shiro’s way as he made phone calls and raced around with lists in his hands.

Shiro kept showing Keith photos of the old farmhouse and land from his visits as a child. There were even a few photos of his mother, and Keith found himself smiling at those. He really did miss her. It wasn’t long before the apartment had boxes spread throughout the place. Keith was half certain they could build a miniature house out of all of them.

Keith didn’t have many belongs to pack besides the books and wooden sword Shiro had gotten him for Christmas. His important belongings like his sketchbook, his mother’s old books, precious photos of his mom, he put into his backpack for safekeeping.

Before he knew it, moving day arrived, and Shiro had finished packing up the car as Keith watched the moving men load the last box onto their truck. Keith tucked his hands into his pockets as he gazed over the city.

He wished he could say he was sad about moving, but he wasn’t. There would be parts of city life he would missed for sure, but at this point, he didn’t care. He would take living in a shack in the desert if it meant he could stay with Shiro .

“Keith, let’s go,” Shiro called as he leaned over the car hood. “It’s going to take a few hours, and I want to give us a head start.”

“Coming!” he dashed to the car and climbed into the front seat next to Shiro . “I hope you brought good music this time.”

Shiro grinned as he climbed inside and turned on the engine. “Hey, I always put on good music.”

He tapped the play button on the dashboard and sat back as the music began to play.

Keith winced as he heard the music play and groaned as the chorus sang. 

Take on me! Take me on! I’ll be gone in a day or two!

Keith shot Shiro a dark look. “Really?”

Shiro laughed as he patted his head. “When you drive you can pick the music.”

“That won’t happen for four years at least,” Keith argued.

“Then I guess you’re kind of stuck,” Shiro teased and began to sing along.

Keith covered his ears and wondered if it was too late to change his mind about the move.

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Despite Shiro’s choice of music, the drive went by quietly as they left the city and entered the country. Keith stared out the window as they passed a field of cows. He hadn’t raised an eyebrow at that, since Keith had seen cows before on field trips. His interest did spike when he spotted a couple of horses, but that was swiftly gobbled up by questions as they went by a field of goats.

Ketih tilted and scratched his head. “Why...would anyone need that many goats?” 

Shiro smiled as the car turned the corner at a large tree. “Goat’s milk can be used for a lot of stuff,” he said and stole a glance at the goats. “Plus, they are kind of cute.”

Keith shook his head. “You’ve got a weird definition of cute, Shiro-”

A flash of red went pass. Keith craned his neck around, wondering what he just saw, but he only caught a glimpse of a long red tail.

Ketih pressed his face to the glass, but it was too late. “That was strange?” he muttered. “I saw... some kind of animal ran by.”

“Was probably just a raccoon or something,” Shiro said.

“That was not a raccoon’s tail,” Keith argued; it had been long and thin, almost like a cat’s, but cats weren’t that shade of red were they?

Shiro said nothing more as he turned into a driveway and parked at the foot of a large house.

“We’re here,” Shiro turned the car off. “And looks like we beat the moving truck .”

Keith unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of the car. He looked up to the house and wrinkled his nose. Keith was no expert, but he was certain he’d seen shacks in better condition. The roof had missing tiles, the paint was peeling off, and he was certain windows were not suppose to be that dusty.

“Please, tell me the house we’re moving into is around the back,” Keith said as Shiro stood beside him. “This looks like it’s falling apart.”

Shiro gave a thoughtful frown. “Not surprised. When Yoshi moved out of here I don’t think anyone bothered to come out and maintain the place.” He patted Keith’s head. “But, don’t worry, we just need to spruce it up.”

“Spruce it up?” Keith crossed his arms. “If I look at this place funny, it’s going to fall over.”

Shiro chuckled as he went to open the trunk. “It’ll be fine,” he insisted as he reached inside for their luggage. “Let’s go inside and see how much we can clean before the movers get here.”

Keith gave a sigh, but did as he was told. He picked up his luggage with a grunt, carried it to the front step, and reached for the knob, but caught movement from the corner of his eye.

He glanced to the nearby trees and caught a red blur dash among them. “Again?” Keith muttered. Just what kind of animal was that thing? A big squirrel?

“What’s up?” Shiro asked as he approached.

Keith opened his mouth, but then shut it. “Nothing, I guess,” he muttered with a shrug.

Shiro smiled and took the key out of his pocket, unlocking the door. “Alright, Buddy, let’s go check out our new home.”

“Sure,” Keith grumbled as they entered. “As long as it doesn’t collapse on us while we’re doing it.”

Far off, in the safety of the tree tops, Red gave a growl as she looked to Black.

_This is a problem,_ Red told her. _That house was a convenient hiding spot._

_Indeed, sister, _Black agreed as she flicked her tail thoughtfully. _Not to mention, it had the best napping spots.___

__Red narrowed her eyes and dug her claws into the wood. _We could try to drive them out. Take back what is ours.__ _

__No, Black said with a purr. _We’ll let the humans stay there.__ _

___What? Why?_ Red asked._ _

___The tall one intrigues me_ , Black admitted as she rose. _We might want to considering living with these humans.__ _

__Red gave a huff. _That nonsense again?_ She growled. _ _

__Honestly, it was bad enough Yellow, Green and Blue had surrendered themselves to humans, but Red wouldn’t go that route without a fight._ _

__It’s worth keeping in mind, Black said firmly. _Although, we shall ponder it later. We should go for now before they see us.__ _

__Red sighed, as she watched her sister leap into the next tree. She lifted her paw to race after her, but paused to see if she could see the boy again. When she spotted him opening one of the windows from inside, she quickly ran to catch up to her sister and tried not to glance back._ _


	2. Chapter 2

Keith had to admit, he liked that his new room was twice the size of his old one despite it smelling like mothballs. He and Shiro went around the house opening as many windows as they could to air out the place. After that, the two of them began to dust and clean as much as they could before the movers arrived.

Keith did his best to stay out of the way as Shiro instructed the movers on where they should put the boxes and the few pieces of furniture they had. He found the best way of doing that was to stay outside and sit on the old bench that was in desperate need of new coat of paint.

Having nothing else better to do, Keith took out his sketchbook. He drew some of the leaves and plants he saw , until his brain began to ponder on exactly what kind of animal he saw before. Without realizing it, Keith found himself trying to sketch out the glimpse of that long tail he had seen and the best he could come up with was a cat.

Keith stretched out over the bench and let his feet dangle over the side as he held up the drawing.

“Got to be a cat,” Keith muttered as he chewed his bottom lip, “but would they hide up in a tree?”

“Oh, cats can hide anywhere they wish,” said a new voice. “It’s quite amazing actually. I knew one once that enjoyed living in the fridge.”

Keith sprang up and whirled around to see a man with red hair, and a matching moustache standing over him. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” the man replied, although he didn’t seem apologetic as he twirled his moustache with his finger. “In my defense, I did whistle to try to give you warning.”

Keith clutched his sketchbook to his chest and gave the man a wary look. “Who are you?”

“You’re new neighbour, judging by that moving van,” the man said as he pointed, then he held up a basket of apples. “Thought I’d drop by and welcome you to the place. Are your parents around?”

Keith frowned, unsure of how to respond as he pushed back on the bench. “Uh..well.”

“Keith, who are you talking to?” Shiro called out as he approached, and the boy felt relief wash over him.

 _Good, you can talk to the weird guy,_ Keith thought.

“Good day!” the man greeted as Shiro approached. “I’m your new neighbour,” he frowned. “Although, you are the ones moving in, so I suppose the correct term is that you’re MY new neighbour, but that’s besides the point.” 

The man held out a hand. “I’m Coran Smythe, pleasure to meet you. Oh, and these are for you.” He handed over the basket of apples to Shiro.

“Uh, thanks,” Shiro said with a blink as he took the basket and then shook with his other hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Takashi Shirogane, but you can call me ‘Shiro.”

Coran shook his hand, but gave a thoughtful frown. “Shiro...Shiro,” he muttered and snapped his fingers. “Wait, you must be Yoshi’s nephew! He mentioned you to me a few times!” He gave a sympathetic smile. “I heard he passed away, my condolences to your family. He was a good man.”

“Thank you,” Shiro said as he gave a half smile and pointed to Keith as he set the basket on the ground. “This is my cousin, Keith. We’ll both be living here from now on.”

Keith waited for Coran to ask where his parents were or why Shiro’s cousin was living with him, but the man simply gave a thoughtful nod.

“You two certainly have your work cut out for you,” he said as he looked over the house. “It was in rough shape even before Yoshi moved out.”

“I don’t think it’s that bad,” Shiro shrugged with a grin. “Once we fix it up, it’ll be a great little place for us.”

“If by fix it up you mean tearing it down and rebuilding it from scratch,” Ketih retorted, but went quiet when Shiro tapped his leg with his foot.

“Don’t mind, Keith; he’s a pessimistic,” Shiro explained.

“Yes, but he’s not entirely wrong,” Coran said thoughtfully. “Listen, if you’re needing an extra pair of hands or have any questions on house repair feel free to ask.” He gave a small laugh. “I’ve often taken on the task of repairman for both my house and the clinic.”

“Clinic?” Shiro asked curiously.

“It’s a veterinary clinic,” Coran explained as he set the basket on the bench. “It’s just over the next hill and it’s right next door to my house, and the apple orchard. You can’t miss it. I live there with my goddaughter Allura. You should drop by, she’d love to meet you.” 

He grasped his chin. “Granted, it is faster and easier to drive up, than by foot..although I did come here by foot but I felt like the hike.” He shook his head and winked at Keith. “Not to mention I know a young girl who’s close to your age that you can mingle with.”

Keith didn’t respond and kept his frown as Shiro patted his shoulder.

“We will, once we get things more in order here,” Shiro said as he picked up the basket. “Thanks for dropping by.”

“No need to thank me,” Coran said as he headed off. “It’s what neighbours are for. Good luck moving in!”

Shiro continued to smile and wave until Coran disappeared up the path. Keith felt it safe to finally sigh and roll his eyes.

“That guy is weird,” he remarked.

“But he’s friendly, which I’m not going to complain about,” Shiro said as he ruffled Keith’s hair. “And sounds like he knows someone your age you can become friends with. That Allura could be a good friend too.”

Keith gave a huff as he crossed his arms. “It takes more than being the same age to be ‘friends’.”

If being the same age was the only factor, then Keith wouldn’t have had all those problems at his last school.

Shiro’s gave a half smile as he kneeled. “Listen, how about you go exploring,” he pointed to Keith’s sketchbook. “Take your sketchbook. You might find something interesting to draw.”

“Uh, okay,” Keith said, “but don’t you need help?”

“Not for awhile,” Shiro said as he glanced back to the house. “Most of it is heavy lifting right now. Just come back in an hour, okay? I should have something for you to do by then.”

Keith gave a slow nod as he picked up his pencil and eraser. 

“Just make sure you stick to the path,” Shiro instructed as Keith walked off. “And don’t go too far. Don’t want you getting lost on our first day here. Also make certain-”

“Arrg! Okay, Shiro, I’ll be careful!” Keith yelled back with a glare.

Shiro gave him a smile before picking up the basket of apples and turned back to the house. Keith told himself he would be fine, yet as he looked up into the trees, he could have sworn he felt like a pair of eyes was watching him.

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As instructed, Keith remained on the trail as he walked through the woods. He had to admit, there was a lot to see. He’d never seen this many trees in the city, and he lost count of the number of squirrels, birds, and even rabbits that scampered by him.

He would have kept on walking, but after ten minutes, Keith recalled Shiro didn’t want him too far from the house and chose a large rock to sit on. It seemed like the ideal place to sketch. There was a bird’s nest near the top of one of the trees, anda small clearing in the branches let the sunlight shine through.There was even a small brook bubbling near him.

A frog glanced up at him from the brook before it decided to hop away into a nearby berry bush. Keith frowned at the bush thoughtfully. 

“Wonder what kind of berries those are?” he muttered aloud. Keith took out his pencil and began to sketch them;maybe Shiro would know or even that Coran guy.

The drawing didn’t take long to finish, and Keith decided to try sketching the brook itself. He heard nothing but the forest sounds as he fiddled with his pencil. He heard birds tweeting, the wind rustling the leaves, the babbling of the brook, and the soft growl…

Keith froze at the last sound and glanced around. Did he really just heard a growl? He strained his ears, but heard nothing. He went back to his sketching, but it came again, only this time he noticed the berry bush rustled with it.

Keith gulped. Could it be a bear? Were they in this area? What about cougars? They were a wild animal right?

The bush rustled even more, and Keith rose from his seat. Should he run? No, wait, wasn’t it better to remain still? Or play dead? Arrg! Why did they never teach that kind of thing in school?!

Another growl came. Keith grabbed a nearby rock to defend himself. A small body jumped from the bushes. Keith yelped and fell over, shutting his eyes. However, no claws or teeth came for him.

Instead, he felt a paw poke at his cheek. Keith cautiously opened an eye and saw...a cat staring back at him.

“Huh?” Keith muttered as he sat up,relief washing over him as he saw it was indeed a cat.

She was a bit large for a house cat though, not to mention, she had an odd blue tinge to her fur. Her paws and muzzle were white, and when she flicked her tail, Keith saw the tip of it was white as well.

Keith still remained cautious. _It could be feral,_ he thought. _It might want to bite me or something._

The blue cat stared curiously at Keith until a butterfly flew by and stole her attention. She gave a playful growl and immediately went to pounce at it. It was only then he spotted the red collar around her neck.

“So, you belong to someone?” Keith asked as he stood. “But who do you-”

“BAH!”

Keith whirled around to find a small goat flicking her ears at him. “Okay, this is weird,” he muttered. “I don’t even know where you came from-HEY!”

The goat promptly grabbed the edge of Keith’s sketchbook. The boy grunted and put all of his strength into yanking it free from the goat’s jaws. He cringed as he heard the goat tear off a corner of the paper and swallow it.

Keith opened his sketchbook and sighed. It was a corner of the berry bush sketch. So, it wasn’t a lot of damage, but it was still annoying. The goat didn’t seem to care and lunged at it to get a second bite.

“Hey! No, it’s not yours!” Keith shouted as he held his sketchbook up to keep it out of the goat’s reach. “This is mine! Go eat grass or something!”

“Daisy! Daisy! Where are you, girl?!” a voice shouted. “Come on! Sis will kill me if I lose you again!”

A boy wearing a blue hooded sweater came running through the trees. He paused as he locked eyes with Keith, but then grinned when he saw the goat.

“Daisy! There you are!” the boy cried, then spotted the cat. “Good job, Blue! I knew you’d find her!”

The cat stopped her chasing and turned around to tilt her head at the boy.

“Hey!” Keith snapped as he shoved Daisy’s head away. “Can you get this thing away from me! It’s trying to eat my sketchbook!”

The boy looked at Keith, but before he could say a word, another boy appeared. This boy was bigger and huffed as he leaned against a tree.

“A leash,” he grumbled as he looked at the goat. “You need to get her a leash, Lance.”

“She had leashes,” the other boy, apparently called Lance, commented dryly. “But she keeps eating them.”

“Help! Goat eating my stuff!” Keith hissed as he jumped on a boulder. “NOW!”

Lance blinked and then frowned as if he was cluing into the situation for the first time. “Right, okay,” he said, stepping forward. “Hunk, give me a hand here.”

The two boys went over, both grabbed onto the goat, and pulled it away. Keith didn’t dare lower his sketchbook until Lance got a small leash from his pocket and attached it to the goat’s collar.

“Heel, girl, ” Lance cooed at it, then gave it a small treat from his pocket. “Here, have a cookie instead.”

The goat sniffed at it, then promptly swallowed it in one gulp. 

Hunk raised an eyebrow at Lance. “Did you swipe that from my mom’s kitchen again?”

“I didn’t swipe, she offered,” Lance argued.

Keith sighed and hugged his sketchbook to his chest tightly. “Alright, who are you two, and what is with that crazy goat?”

The said crazy goat bah-ed again, but seemed more content to nibble at the grass.

“She’s not crazy, she’s just hungry,” Lance replied as he tucked his hands into his pocket. “I’m Lance, that’s Hunk, the goat is Daisy, and that’s my cat, Blue.”

The cat gave a meow in reply and hopped up on the large rock.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “You named your cat ‘Blue’?” 

“Well, what else would you call her?” Lance argued, then raised an eyebrow. “Now, who are you? I know I’ve never seen you before.”

“I’m Keith,” he replied,shifting slightly. “I just moved here.”

Hunk blinked,then his eyes widened. “Hold it, is your family the one moving into that old farm house?”

Keith fidgeted, not certain he liked being asked all of these questions at once. “Um..yeah, but it’s just me and my cousin. How did you hear about it?”

“It’s a small town,” Hunk replied, tucking his hands into his pocket. “Word moves around fast.”

Lance folded his hands behind his head. “Wait, you mean you’re actually going to live there? That place is falling apart and haunt-”

“Lance,” Hunk hissed.

“No, it is,” Keith replied with a sigh, then looked at the goat. “So, why exactly are you chasing a goat in the woods?”

“My family runs a goat farm,” Lance explained. “And this one has a bad habit of running off.”

He was interrupted by Daisy yanking at her leash. “Daisy, no,” Lance grumbled. “Silly goat, I’m just trying to keep you alive. Do you want to be a bear’s lunch?”

“Goat farm?” Keith asked, then recalled the one they had passed by the road. “You mean that field with all the goats up the road?”

“Yup, that’s it,” Lance smirked proudly as Blue rubbed her head against his leg. “And not to brag, but we have the best goat’s milk you’ve ever tasted.”

“Uh..okay, good for you?” Keith said with a shrug. “Not that I’ve ever had goat’s milk.”

Lance’s smile dropped into a shocked frown. “You’ve never had goat’s milk?”

“Uh oh,” Hunk muttered.

“No,” Keith replied. “I’m from the city, and we don’t have a lot of goats there.”

“What about goat cheese?” Lance asked.

“Why would I have eaten goat cheese?” Keith asked as he turned to leave. “Look, this has been fun, but I need to head back- HEY!”

Despite Keith’s protests, Lance dragged him by the arm back up the trail with one hand and kept his grip on Daisy’s leash with the other. “You’re coming with me! No way I’m letting you exist any longer without having tasted goat’s milk.”

“Are you for real?!” Keith exclaimed and looked to Hunk for assistance, but the large boy just shrugged.

“Just go with it,” Hunk replied. “It’s easier if you don’t fight with him on this, trust me.”

Keith wanted to say something, but no words came as Lance dragged him through the woods, and Blue trailed after them.


	3. Chapter 3

Keith had to admit, Lance’s house was in way better condition than his and Shiro’s. They even had a small pool in the backyard. Lance finally decided to let go of Keith when they reached a fenced in area filled with goats, and Lance released Daisy into it.

“There we go, and stay there this time,” Lance ordered as he shut the gate.

Blue leapt to the top of the fence and gave a growl like she was trying to reinforce Lance’s order. Keith leaned over the fence curiously. He had never seen goats in real life. He’d only seen them on tv and in books, and even then it was never this many in a group.

A small baby goat scooted up to the fence and flicked her ears at Keith. The boy pouted slightly as he peeked through the fence. _Okay, they are kind of cute._

“Lance!” a woman’s voice shouted as she poked her head through the window. “Did you and Hunk find Daisy yet?”

“Yeah, Mom!” Lance shouted back and pointed to the fence. “She’s back in the pen.”

“Oh, thank heavens!” the woman said with a sigh. “How about you two come in for lunch?”

“Okay!” Lance called. and Keith found him grabbing his arm again and pulled him to the house. Keith did his best to not stumble over the doorway as Hunk and Blue followed them.

A large woman finished up washing a dish and turned around as she wiped her hands on a towel. “Hunk, I called your mother, so she already knows-”

The woman paused when she saw Keith and blinked. “Lance, who is this?”

“This is Keith, Mom!” Lance said he held up Keith’s arm. “He just moved into that old farmhouse.”

Keith shot the boy a glare as he yanked his arm free. “Geez, just say it to the whole world why don’t you?”

“Wait,” a teen girl said as she poked her head into the kitchen. “You mean that one that’s haunted?”

Keith froze at the comment. “Haunted?”

Lance’s mother crossed her arms and turned sharply to the girl. “Margaret, that place is not haunted!”

“Um to be fair,” Hunk said as he raised his hand. “My sister has seen shadows move in there.”

Keith turned to him. “You serious?”

“Oh, that’s enough!” Lance’s mother said firmly. “You are all being very rude.” 

She kneeled as her eyes softened at Keith. “They’re just teasing sweetheart. There is nothing wrong with your place.”

“That’s what you say.”

“Lance!” his mother replied firmly before turning her gaze to Keith. “I see you met my son and Hunk, already. The girl back there is my daughter Margaret, and I’m Clara.”

“Um...hi, I’m Keith,” he said and then suddenly felt dumb since Lance had already said it.

Clara didn’t seem bothered by it though and gave a laugh. “Well, I’ve got plenty of food, how about we treat you to lunch as well?”

“Um..I appreciate the offer, but I need to get back to my house,” Keith explained as he rubbed his neck.

Frankly, he didn’t think Shiro would like that he had wandered this far away from the house.  
.  
Clara offered a smile. “Well, how about we give your mother a call so she doesn’t worry?”

Keith chewed his bottom lip. “Um..I don’t have a mom or dad,” he said as he fidgeted. “It’s just me and my cousin Shiro.”

Clara’s eyes widened slightly, and Keith spotted Lance and Hunk exchanged guilty and shocked looks. Keith half expected Clara to dropped the subject and just let Keith be on his way, but instead she offered a smile as she patted his shoulder.

“Then how about you give him a call, and we can have the both of you over,” she said. “I’m certain you both could use a proper lunch while you’re trying to move in.”

Keith blinked and rubbed his neck. “Um..okay, but I don’t know if Shiro will go for it.”

It didn’t take long for Keith to call up Shiro on his cellphone, although Shiro was surprised to learn Keith had ended up at the goat farm. Keith was afraid he might be annoyed he had wandered off so far, but Shiro said it was fine, and he would be there shortly.

As they waited, Lance’s mother put the boys to work, having them wash their hands then set up the table with plates, and a pitcher of goat milk. Keith watched as Lance poured a glass and handed it to Keith.

“Try it,” he instructed as he held up the glass.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Why should I?”

“Because it’s delicious and you haven’t tried it yet,” Lance said.

“Just do it,” Hunk said, “Lance loves their goats and he won’t leave you alone until you at least try it.”

Keith had a suspicion that Hunk was speaking from experience. He gave a pout as he took the glass. “Fine, I’ll taste it. Happy?” 

Lance grinned. “Very.”

Keith sighed as he took a sip of the goat’s milk and explored the flavor.

It was a bit thicker and sweeter than the cow’s milk he normally drank, . It certainly wasn’t bad by any means, but it would be a taste he would have to get use to.

“Not bad, but I wouldn’t drink it all the time,” Keith replied.

“Oh, you will,” Lance said as he folded his arms and grinned in a smug manner. “Trust me.”

Keith rolled his eyes as he heard a knock at the door. He made a beeline to it and felt very relieved to see Shiro there when Lance’s mother opened it.

“These people are weird,” he whispered as Shiro entered.

Shiro hushed him as he ruffled Keith’s hair, and Lance’s mother came to meet him. 

“Hello, you must be, Shiro,” she said, offering her hand. “I’m Clara.”

“Uh, hello,” Shiro said as he shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

She gave a nod and pointed to the other boys. “That’s my son Lance, and Hunk, a friend of the family.” Clara tucked her hands into her apron. “Usually my other children and husband are around to introduce themselves, but they’re either at the market or busy with chores.”

“Oh, that’s fine, we won’t stay long,” Shiro said with a smile as he placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Keith and I have a lot of stuff to unpack.”

“All the more reason to stay for lunch then,” Clara insisted. “It’s hard work and better to get a proper meal now so you have the energy to keep working.” She gave a smile. “And I have a few things I can give to you for your dinner tonight. It’s the least we can do for our new neighbours.”

“That’s very generous of you,” Shiro replied, “but there’s really no need.”

Keith grinned. Yeah, he knew Shiro, and there was no way this lady could convince him when he was being this stubborn. They would be out of here within a few minutes.

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“I have no idea how she convinced us to stay for lunch,” Shiro said as he turned the wheel.

Keith nodded in understanding. He had been amazed when Shiro had caved and accepted the McClains’ invitation for lunch. Granted, Lance had somehow managed to drag him to the place without Keith really wanting to go at first.

“Maybe it’s some kind of family power,” Keith offered as he lifted his head. “How do you think I ended up there?”

Shiro gave a laugh. “Well, at least we got food for dinner.”

Keith stared at the small basket filled with the brim of food that Clara had given them. It was stuffed with cheese, bread, fresh meat, bottles of milk, and even a bag of cookies.

“It was good,” Keith admitted. “But...it’s like that family has this weird power to convince people to just go along with them.”

“It happens,” Shiro said as they pulled up the driveway. “Alright, let’s see how much you and I can get unpacked before dinner.” He turned off the engine, got up and unlocked the car door. “We should at least try to get our beds together so we don’t have to sleep on the floor tonight.”

Keith paused as he looked to the house, recalling the talk of ‘mysterious shadows’ back at Lance’s place.

“Shiro, is our place haunted?” Keith asked.

Shiro stopped mid-step and looked at him.. “Huh? Haunted? Where did you hear that?”

“Lance’s sister,” Keith said with folded arms, “and Hunk said his sister has seen weird stuff here.”

“Ah,” Shiro looked to the house, then kneeled down to Keith’s level. “You know, it wouldn’t surprise me. It is an old house, and that can be welcoming to some forest spirits.”

That set Keith slightly on edge. He had been expecting Shiro to just laugh it off or completely deny it.

Shiro smiled and placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “This place had been around since before I was even born,” he continued. “Uncle Yoshi use to tell me that he would sometimes see little forest sprites hanging around his house.” 

He raised a hand. “But, he also told me they never onced hurt him or his family, and I can swear to you they never hurt me. So, if there are ghosts here, then they’re probably friendly.”

“Oh,” Keith said. That made him feel a bit better, but still, the idea of something else living in the house with them was not comforting.

“Let’s set out some milk for them tonight,” Shiro stood. “Yoshi use to do that as a little gift for the spirits. So, that way, if there are some here, they’ll know we’re friendly too.”

Keith looked to the bottle of goat milk Lance had given him and gave a slow nod. “Yeah..uh, okay...not that I actually believe it or anything.”

Shiro smiled as took the basket from Keith. “Come on, let’s see if we can put more of the house together before dinner.”

Keith gave a nod and took one more glance at the forest before following him inside. 

By the end of the day, he and Shiro had managed to get the kitchen and most of their rooms put together.Keith had to admit, he was grateful for the food Lance’s mother gave him. He realized he was starving by the time they sat down to eat, and he devoured it. Before long, Shiro suggested they both go to sleep to get an early start to the day.

Keith agreed, but before they did, they took a bowl and poured in some of the goat milk to set on the outside porch.

“Think the spirits will care if it’s goat’s milk?” Keith asked as they shut the door.

“I can’t imagine they’re too picky,” Shiro wrapped an arm around him. “But, hey, it’s fresh, so I can’t see why they wouldn’t like it.”

Keith wasn’t as certain, but decided to trust Shiro’s judgement. Before he crawled into bed, he stole one more glance out of his window, and as far as Keith could tell, there was still no sign of any spirits.

“Probably just a made up story anyway,” Keith pulled the curtain back and crawled into his bed. 

_I can’t imagine what spirits would be doing in a place like this._

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Red wasn’t certain how or why, but she found herself wandering near the farmhouse again after her patrol was complete. Granted, the blame could fall on Green. Once her little sister caught word of the new humans who had moved in, she had bombarded Red with questions.

What were they like? How many? Any children to play with her human?

Red scoffed as she ducked in and out the shadows and approached the porch. Why did Green have to be so inquisitive? Worst of all, she knew Green would keep pestering her for answers until she got them. This was the main reason why Red found herself here. It was merely easier to get the information so Green would stop pestering her about it... or worse yet, go and inspect herself.

Her nose picked up the scent of milk, a smell that had not been around here for a very long time. She hopped up on the porch and tilted her head. A small bowl had been placed near the door. Red had recalled the previous owner had left milk as a gift on a regular basis, but it had been a long time since anyone had done that.

Dust bunnies gathered around it, seeming quite pleased as they sipped at the milk. Red felt her paws twitched as she watched the small white balls of fluff sip from the bowl. Yet, the second she took a step forward, their small long ears sprang upward, and they blinked tiny alarmed eyes at Red.

Red growled playfully as she moved closer. _Been awhile since I had a good hunt,_  
she told them.

The dust bunnies squeaked and huddled together. However, before Red could pouce, Black jumped up onto the porch and stood in front of them like a shield. Red sighed as the dust bunnies scooted under her for protection.

 _Sister, you’re ruining my fun,_ she scolded.

 _How many times must I ask you to leave these sprites alone,_ Black scolded as two more dust bunnies ducked behind her leg. _They’re hard working house sprites protecting their home._

Red shook her head. She knew despite their size, dust bunnies did take protecting a home from dark spirits seriously, but all they did was sleep during the day and stay indoors most of the time. The few that lived in the forest just tried to stay out of sight by living under rocks or inside logs.

 _I don’t hurt them,_ Red argued back. _I just play with them. If Blue was here, she would agree with me. Besides, it’s good exercise for them._

 _Just let them be tonight,_ Black stood, and the dust bunnies slowly returned to the bowl. _It’s been a long time since they’ve had humans in their home. They’re extra nervous._

Red huffed and growled. _Fine, but only for tonight_.

Black twitched her ears, and gave her attention to the bowl. _Been awhile since milk has been offered here._

_I know,_ Red moved closer. _Too bad I don’t digest cow’s milk._

The previous owner had been nice and wise enough to leave it, but Red had never had the stomach for it. 

Black took a lick and flicked her tail. _Well, you’re in luck, little sister. It’s goat milk._

Red’s ears gave a curious twitch as she move closer and sniffed. The dust bunnies squeak at her as she moved in and took a lick. She blinked in surprise. _It is!_

The dust bunnies hopped about madly and squeaked in their high pitched language.

 _Ah,_ Black replied as she sat. _So, it was the big human, Shiro was it? He suggested it._

The dust bunnies squeaked some more and Red blinked .

 _But it was the boy who choose the goat milk?_ Red said in surprise.

 _He must have gotten it from goat farm,_ Black sat next to her. _Blue saw them both there and thought the boy would be a good match for you._

Red narrowed her eyes. _Why would she think that?_

Because the boy is just as grouchy as you are, Black teased.

The dust bunnies twittered with laughter, but went silent as Red shot them a glare. Red looked back to her sister. _I still refuse to live with a human_.

Black crossed her paws. _The hunters are getting more serious, Red, she said. Our luck can only hold out so long._

Red wanted to refute it, but she knew Black was right. Instead, Red lowered her head to drink more of the goat milk and decided to leave the worries for the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

When Keith awoke the next morning, the first thing he did was go to check the bowl of milk they left out. To his amazement, it was completely gone. His mind briefly jumped to the conclusion of forest spirits, until his logical side argued a wild animal could have drunk it all.

Keith picked up the plate and turned back around to head inside, but a flash of red caught his attention.

He turned back sharply, but saw nothing. Keith looked around, and for a moment he thought he saw a red blur among the tree branches. He stared at it, trying to catch any sign of movement, but was forced to give up when he heard Shiro call him in for breakfast.

Shiro gave a little smile as he saw the empty plate like he had been expecting it.

“Guess they were hungry,” Shiro joked and handed Keith a plate of scrambled eggs and toast.

He had expected Shiro to declare they were going to tackle the rest of the house, but instead, after breakfast Shiro had suggested they go into town.

“We need some groceries,” Shiro said with a shrug. “Besides, we might as well become familiar with the town since we’re going to live here.”

Keith tried to argue that he’d rather get more familiar with the forest, but despite his protests, Shiro got him into the car and drove into town. 

Keith had expected to be driving for awhile, but was shocked to see the town within ten minutes. Shiro looked amused as they parked.

“We could probably bike or walk here if needed,” Shiro stated as he shut the door. “That’s useful to know.”

Keith leaned against the care, looking around the small town. He was expecting it to be more deserted, but there were a fair number of people walking around. Not nearly as many as in the city, but a decent size. There were plenty of shops too along the city walk, a hardware store, a bakery, and even a place that looked like an arcade.  
“Where do we start, Shiro?” Keith asked.

Shiro took out his list and looked it over. “Let’s divide it up,” he tore off the bottom half and gave it to Keith. “I’m going to buy wood, nails, and other things at the hardware store, while you go to the bakery to get bread. Okay?”

Keith gave a nod as he took the list. “Should I meet you in the hardware store when I’m done?”

“Nah,” Shiro ruffled his hair. “Either stay at the bakery or head over to that arcade. I might be a few minutes, so I’ll come and find you. Just don’t wander off.”

Keith glanced over at the bakery. He wasn’t exactly thrilled to go to there by himself, but if it made things easier for Shiro he would do it.

“Okay,” Keith said as Shiro handed him the money. “Anything else?”

Shiro patted Keith’s hand. “If you see a treat you want, get it,” he said with a teasing grin. “Just as long as it isn’t a full size cake or something.”

Keith gave a nod, then ventured towards the bakery. He stopped at the door and turned to see Shiro entering the hardware store. Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob and entered the shop.

A wave of scents full of fresh bread and pastries caught him briefly off guard as the store bell jingled.

A teenage girl wearing an apron glanced up from behind the counter and tucked the book she had been reading into her apron pocket. 

“Hi, need some help?” she offered.

Keith blushed slightly as he shook his head. “No, I’m good,” he made a beeline for the bread on the shelf. “I’ll just look around a minute.”

The girl frowned, but shrugged as she brought out her book again. “Just give a shout if you need a hand.”

Keith muttered a thanks before turning his gaze to the shelf of bread although now he felt quite baffled. Shiro had told him to pick up bread, but he had never mentioned what kind and before him sat the labels ‘brown bread’, ‘white bread’, ‘whole wheat bread’ and other kinds. Worse yet, he didn’t see any of the normal sliced bread he was used to from the city.

Keith considered asking the girl, but felt rather stupid asking ‘what kind of bread should I get’. He then heard a door open and footsteps.

“Hey, Lisa, still planning to throw out that old music box?” a familiar voice asked.

Keith glanced away from his bread predicament and his eyes widened when he saw Hunk standing behind the counter next to the girl.

The girl, Lisa apparently, placed both hands on her hips as she raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, dare I ask why you’re asking?”

“Pidge found it and wants to know if she can try taking it apart?”

Keith took a few steps closer to the counter.

Lisa sighed. “Of course she does,” she muttered and shook her head. “Go ahead, but please make certain you two clean up afterwards? You don’t want another lecture from-”

“Hunk?” Keith asked.

Hunk jumped slightly, then relaxed and blinked in surprise. “Keith? When did you get here?”

“He’s been here since you came out,” Lisa crossed her arms. “You know each other?”

“He’s the kid that I told you about,” Hunk explained with a shrug. “Moved into the…” he cleared his throat. “Old farm house.”

“You can say ‘haunted’,” Keith tucked his hands into his pockets. “Doesn’t bother me.”

Hunk gave a shaky smile as Lisa looked amused by the whole thing. “Ooh, so you’re the one,” she said and looked to the door. “Anyone waiting for you?”

“Um..just my cousin,” Keith replied suspiciously. “Although he said he would meet me here when he’s done at the hardware store.”

Lisa nodded and looked to Hunk. “Why don’t you take him to meet Pidge? Might as well since they’re neighbors.”

Hunk’s eyes lit up. “Oh, good idea!”

“Wait, hold it,” Keith said, annoyed they were deciding this without asking. “Who’s Pidge?”

“My friend who lives next door to you guys,” Hunk said. “She said you met Coran the other day.”

Keith blinked and then his brain clicked. “Oh, him, uh yeah. I did.” He scratched his head. _But didn’t he say the person he lived with was named ‘Allura’._

“Great,” Hunk said as he raced over and took Keith’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Keith kept his ground. “But I was told to buy bread.”

“Do you know what kind?” Lisa asked.

Keith paused and shook his head.

Hunk narrowed his eyes and pulled Keith back to the bread section. “Got any allergies?”

“Uh, no,” Keith said as Hunk let go of his hand.

“Does it matter if it has gluten or not?” Hunk grasped his chin like he was in deep thought.

“Don’t think so?” Keith replied.

Hunk picked a loaf off the shelf. “Then go for my mom’s special blend It has some herbs mixed into the crust, and it’s REALLY good.”

“Uh...okay,” Keith took the loaf and was suddenly getting flashbacks from his whirlwind visit with Lance yesterday.

Hunk looked satisfied as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Need anything else?”

Keith gave a shrug. “No unless I saw something that I wanted as a treat.”

Delight shimmered in Hunk’s eyes, and Keith suddenly wished his kept his mouth shut.

“My dad makes the best oatmeal cookies in town,” Hunk dragged Keith to the front. “Although, the tarts are good too, but if you like lemon then the lemon and cranberry loaf is great too. What do you like?”

Keith rubbed his neck feeling bewildered. “Uh...I don’t know..ice cream.”

Lisa laughed. “Should have warned you, kiddo,” she said as she leaned over the counter. “Hunk takes after our Mom, and they’re both major food experts.”

“There’s nothing wrong with knowing what’s good food,” Hunk stuck his tongue out at her.

“Yeah, yeah,” she teased as she ruffled his hair. “You’re just lucky Tilly and I find you to be a cute little brother.” Lisa winked at Keith as she reached under the counter. “How about I just get a box of chocolate chip cookies for you, okay?”

Keith sighed in relief. “That’s fine.”

Lisa reached for a paper box and began to fill it. “Also, word of advice, make certain you stay out of our Mom’s sight,” she said as she looked Keith over. “One look at you, and she’s going to insist on trying to put meat on those bones.”

Keith blushed slightly as he narrowed his eyes. “Noted.”

The bell jingled and Keith turned, thinking it was Shiro, but instead it was a man and a woman. 

If Keith were to guess, they were around Shiro’s age, although they looked a bit rugged like they had been on the road for the last few days. The lady was rather pretty, although she seemed more interested in heading over to where the bread was.The man adjusted the hat on his head and gave a lazy smile as he headed over. 

“Hey there, Lisa,” the man greeted as he approached and leaned against the counter. “Mind giving us our usual order?”

Lisa straightened her posture as she finished placing the cookies and bread into a single bag. “Sure thing, Rolo, I just need to finish this order.”

“Ooh,” he looked down at Hunk. “For your brother and his friend?”

“It’s for me,” Keith raised a hand.

Rolo raised an intrigued eyebrow. “Don’t recall seeing you before?” he gave a laugh. “And I thought I knew all the people in this town by now.”

“That’s because he just moved here,” Hunk said in a firm tone and he narrowed his eyes. “And since you guys don’t live here, I still don’t get why that concerns you.”

Keith’s eyes went wide in shock. _What’s up with him?_ Keith thought. _He’s been so friendly up to now._

“Hunk,” Lisa hissed under her breath. “Don’t be rude.”

Rolo didn’t seem rattled by it as he laughed and held his hands up. “Whoa, easy, Big Guy, was just curious,” he said and then locked his gaze with Keith. “And where exactly did ya move to, Kid?”

“It’s Keith,” he inched closer to Hunk. “And my cousin and I just moved into our uncle’s old farmhouse.”

Rolo’s smile faltered. “Farmhouse?” he asked, as his female partner drew closer and looked interested. “You mean the abandoned one near the orchard and the vet’s place?”

“Yeah,” Keith’s forehead puckered. “Got a problem?”

“Oh, not at all,” Rolo pointed to the lady. “Nyma and I have been exploring the woods there, and I just always happen to bump into it.” He gave a crooked smile. “Also heard that place is haunted.” He crouched to Keith’s level. “Ever seen anything weird there, kid?”

Keith’s eyes hardened as he thought of the flash of red he kept seeing, but found himself shaking his head.

“No,” he said simply and turned to hand Lisa the money. “Can you let me know when my cousin gets here.”

Lisa looked uncertain as she looked between Keith and Rolo. “Sure thing, I’ll keep your stuff here until he comes, okay?”

“Thanks,” Keith pocketed the change and tried not to glance at Rolo as Hunk lead him through the back. Once the door was shut behind them, Keith glanced behind and pointed.

“Who are those guys?” he asked.

Hunk frowned as he crossed his arms. “A couple of ‘researchers’ or at least that’s what they say they are,” he shook his head. “They claim they’re gathering data on the local wildlife here, but all I know is that Yellow doesn’t like them.”

Keith frowned. “Yellow? Who’s that?”

Hunk’s face then turned back and suddenly a smile reappeared. “Right, you haven’t met her yet either.” He pointed to a set of stairs. “Come on, she’s up with Pidge and Green in my room. I’ll show you!”

Keith tilted his head as he trailed after Hunk. “Your family lives here too?”

“Yup, this place actually use to be a house until my parents bought it and changed it into the store,” Hunk explained. “Living room is downstairs, but my room is up here,” he said as they reached the top and entered the hallway. “It’s not a huge room, but I like it.” 

Keith glanced around the hallway, the walls having a framed family photo on almost every inch. He noticed Lance and his family were in a large number of the photos too. 

“You and Lance known each other a long time?” he pointed.

“Since before I can remember,” Hunk said with a shrug. “Our families do a lot of businesses together, so kind of comes with the territory I guess?”

“Ah,” Keith said as he crossed his arms. “That makes sense-”

He jumped as something furry brushed past his leg. With his heart pounding, he glanced down to see a golden cat staring up at him. It gave a lazy yawn before washing its face.

“Hey, girl,” Hunk scooped up the cat. “Finally got up from your nap, huh?”

The cat meowed and purred happily as she hopped onto Hunk’s shoulders.

“Sorry, no treats on me right now,” Hunk said, then his eyes darkened. “Also, don’t go in the bakery. THEY’RE here again.”

Keith swore it was his imagination, but the cat’s eyes narrowed like it was scowling, then it leaped off Hunk to dash into the room ahead.

Before Keith could speak, the door yanked opened and a young girl with a ponytail poked her head out.

“Hunk, did you get permission? What’d she say?” she paused as she noticed Keith. “Who’s this?” 

“This is Keith, the kid I told you about,” Hunk said, then looked to Keith. “This is Pidge; she lives in the vet clinic next door to your place.”

“Oh,” Keith gave an awkward wave. “Um...hi?”

“Hi,” Pidge said slowly,then turned back to Hunk. “So, what did Lisa say?”

Hunk sighed. “She said to go ahead just as long as you clean up this time.”

“YYEESS!” Pidge cried gleefully as she ducked back into Hunk’s room. “I’m dying to take this thing apart.”

“You should work on your manners,” Hunk grumbled as he lead Keith into his room.

The place was small like Hunk had described. Keith was certain it was half the size of his room, but it was tidy except for the desk covered in tools and a music box with gears sticking out. His nose caught the whiff of fresh bread, and Keith realized they were probably above the kitchen.

He was about to ask Hunk if his guess was correct when he heard a soft growl. Keith turned to see Yellow and a smaller cat with a green tinge to its fur sitting on the bed and staring at him. 

Dumbstruck, Keith pointed. “You have two cats?” 

“No, Green is mine,” Pidge sat at the desk and picked up a screwdriver to poke at the box. “She lives with me, but has a habit of following me to Hunk’s place a lot.”

Hunk gave a grunt as he sat on the floor near the bench. “Yellow tends to stick around my family’s bakery more, but she has followed me to Lance’s place a few times.” He held up a plate. “Want a cookie?”

Keith blinked, then raised his hand as Green and Yellow both jumped off the bed. “Wait, wait, all three of you have cats named after colours? Why? Did they come from the same litter?”

Pidge and Hunk both gave deep sighs and said in unison. “It was Lance’s idea.” 

“Lance?” Keith asked.

“Lance first found his cat and named her Blue,” Hunk scratched under Yellow’s chin. “Then like, what Pidge, a week later? I found Yellow here and Pidge got Green. So, Lance declared we should name ours after colours too.”

“And you agreed to this?” Keith said with an arched eyebrow.

“Trust us,” Pidge sighed. “It was easier to go along with it than fight it.”

Keith opened his mouth, but then recalled his encounter with Lance, and how he somehow ended up going to his family’s farm. “Alright, point taken.” He scratched his head. “But all three of you got cats at the same time? Isn’t that a bit odd?”

“What do you mean?” Hunk asked.

Keith chewed his bottom lip. “Well, no offense, but just seems like kind of a weird coincidence to find three stray cats?”

Pidge scoffed. “Oh, you are so from the city,” she stopped Green from poking at her tools. “Cats are very common around here. I’m fairly certain we have more cats in this town than dogs, truth be told.”

“Dare I ask why?” Keith asked.

“Partly we have a lot of farms around here, but mainly an old town superstition,” Pidge said. “I can’t remember the full details, but basically this town has an old belief that cats bring you good luck. So, best to be nice if you cross paths with one.” She wrinkled her nose. “There’s even an old story about a fountain or something... Coran knows it better than I do.”

Slightly intrigued, he sat on the bed. “Huh, Shiro did tell me his old uncle used to tell him forest spirits hung around the house.”

Pidge paused in her work to turn in her seat as Hunk paled. “He did?” she adjusted her overall straps. “Have you seen any?”

Keith shook his head. “No..well..,” he paused. “At least I don’t think I have.” His mind drifted back to the dashes of red he kept seeing.

“Well, if you do, can you keep it to yourself?” Hunk asked in a hushed whispered. “I DO NOT do well with ghost stories.”

“That’s because you’re a chicken,” Pidge grumbled, then turned her attention back to Keith. “Still, this is the first I’ve heard of forest spirits.”

Keith shrugged. “Well, Shiro’s uncle hasn’t live at the place for a long time, so maybe it’s just an old ghost story.” He frowned and grasped his chin. “Although, do you think Rolo and Nyma would know anything about it? He seemed to be asking if I had seen something like that.”

Pidge blinked and Green growled softly. “Rolo? You’ve met him?” 

Hunk scowled. “He was downstairs in the shop, and if you ask me, you’re better off not telling them anything. Keith.”

Keith leaned forward as he tilted his head. “You really don’t like them, huh?”

 

“Hunk thinks they’re evil,” Pidge said with a shrug. “Which, I don’t get, since they haven’t done anything wrong.”

Hunk rolled his eyes. “Maybe not, but I feel it in my gut, and my gut is never wrong about these things.” He pulled Yellow into his lap and the cat gave no protest. “Besides, Yellow doesn’t like them, and to me that’s a bad sign right there.”

“I don’t get it,” Keith said with a shrug.

“Yellow likes EVERYONE,” Hunk retorted, “and one of her favorite napping spots is near the shop door outside on the porch.” His gaze hardened. “You normally have to drag her away, but every time Rolo and Nyma appear she dashes away like grease lightening. I’ve NEVER seen her react like that to anyone.”

Pidge grimaced as Green headbutted her hand for a pat. “I’ll admit, Green had never seemed to like them either, but cats can be weird.”

Keith shut his eyes in thought. “I don’t know...there does seem something weird about those two.”

Hunk gave a sigh of relief. “THANK YOU!” he tossed his hands up in the air. “I’ve been saying that since the day they arrived, but everyone just says I’m over thinking it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Pidge reached for another part. “Hunk, do you think you got a spare gear this size?”

Hunk and glanced over Pidge’s shoulder. “Nnnooo, but maybe we don’t have to replace it.”

Keith frowned as he got up and glanced over their heads to see. “Why are you taking apart a music box?”

“Because I can,” Pidge said with a scoff like it was obvious, and then gave Keith a look like she was daring him to argue. “Any reason I shouldn’t?”

Keith opened his mouth, then shut it when he couldn’t think of an answer. “No, I guess not.”

She pointed to the shelf on the far wall. “See the grey box there, Keith? Can you bring it over?”

“Uh, okay,” Keith went over to retrieve it.

“Oh, and also bring the small toolbox next to it,” Hunk said without looking up.

“Alright.”

“And maybe those clothes next to it,” Pidge added.

Keith growled softly as he picked up the items. _How do I keep getting pulled into these things?_


	5. Chapter 5

Shiro grunted as he placed the last bag of supplies into the car, then wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Okay, that should be everything,” he muttered as he double checked his list.

 _At least for now,_ Shiro thought. _I have a feeling I’ll be making frequent trips to this place._

Shiro tucked his list into his jean pocket as he walked across the street to the bakery. He hoped Keith made out alright. He could be nervous going to new places by himself, but Shiro liked to challenge him a little when he could. Besides, surely a bakery was a safe place.

The bell jingled as he entered and looked around. He saw a cashier at the counter handing a box and change back to a couple, but there was no sign of Keith.

Shiro scratched his head as he went to turn around. _Maybe he ended up going to the arcade._

“Are you Shiro?”

He turned back around and saw the cashier wave at him. “Keith’s here, he’s just upstairs with my little brother.”

Shiro paused and frowned. “Brother?”

“Hunk, he said he met you two yesterday,” the cashier explained, then pointed to herself. “I’m Lisa, by the way.”

“Oh,” Shiro offered his hand. “Shiro, I didn’t realize Hunk lived here too.”

Lisa shook his hand and grinned. “It’s a family business. Let me just give Hunk a quick call to tell Keith you’re here.”

Shiro gave a laugh and leaned over the counter. “Tell them not to rush, I’m not in a hurry to get anywhere.”

Frankly, Shiro thought this was a good thing for Keith. He didn’t have any friends his age, but Lance and Hunk both seemed like good kids. If there was a chance for Keith to get closer to them, he would happily wait a few minutes.

Lisa gave a nod as she reached for a phone on the wall and dialed.

Shiro turned his back to her to not make her feel self-conscious and tried to take a better look at the store. “Nice store,” he whispered to himself.

“Yeah, it is,” a voice spoke. 

Shiro turned and realized it was the male customer.

He offered Shiro his hand with a smile . “Name’s Rolo, and this is my partner Nyma.” 

“Uh, hi,” Shiro said as he shook the hand. “My name is Takashi Shirogane, but everyone just calls me Shiro.”

“We gathered,” Nyma gave a flirtatious smirk. “So, is it true you moved into the old farmhouse?”

Shiro raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Yeah, I inherited it from my Uncle Yoshi and just moved in with my cousin.”

“Well, wish we had known that,” Rolo gave a laugh. “See, Nyma and I are researchers, so we’ve been stomping around the woods near your place a lot.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow. Their clothes looked too tattered and worn to be researchers, but Shiro had spent most of his adult life in the military; he might not always be the best judge of appearances.

“What kind of research?” he asked.

“Oh, a bit of folklore, a bit of wildlife,” Nyma shrugged. “It varies.”

“I see,” Shiro said slowly.

“With that said,” Rolo crossed his arms. “Those woods near your place can have some real feral cats hanging around. Don’t suppose you’ve seen any?”

Shiro’s forehead wrinkled, and he shook his head. “Can’t say that I have.”

“Best to keep your eyes peeled then,” Nyma flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Feral cats can be dangerous. If you see anything weird around your place, just let us know, and we’ll take care of it.”

“Hate to interrupt,” Lisa said coolly, “but Hunk said they would be right down.” She shot Rolo and Nyma a look. “And we do have animal control here that would be better. My uncle runs it.”

“Hey, hey, didn’t mean to step on any toes,” Rolo said with a half smile as he waved his hands. “Just wanted to offer my services to the man.”

“And I appreciate that,” Shiro kept his voice neutral, “but I’m certain Keith and I will be fine.”

Rolo shrugged as Nyma picked up their purchases. “Suit yourself,” he said and handed Shiro a business card. “Still, if you change your mind, just give me a shout. My cellphone is always on.” 

He snapped his fingers at him. “Besides, betting we’ll bump into each other again around those woods.”

Nyma offered a sickening sweet smile as they began to drift to the door. “See you around,” she said as they left.

Shiro watched them go before turning his gaze back to Lisa. “Are they actually researchers?”

Lisa shrugs. “That’s what they claim, but I don’t know.” She brought up a bag onto the counter. “They kind of just appeared in town one day, but if I were you, I keep an eye out to be safe.”

“I will,” Shiro said firmly just as the door behind the counter opened and Keith appeared with Hunk and a girl in tow.

“Took you long enough,” Keith pouted.

Shiro instantly forgot his bad mood and grinned at Keith. “I should be the one saying that to you,” he teased. “I was beginning to think you’d never come down.”

Keith blushed as Hunk gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry, that was our fault.” He pointed to the girl. “By the way this is Pidge; she’s your neighbour.”

Shiro tilted his head curiously. “You are?”

“I live with Coran,” Pidge shrugged. “He mentioned you guys to me and Allura the other day.”

“Oh, I see,” Shiro picked up the purchases and gave a wink. “We’ll have to invite you guys over sometime once we get the place spruced up.”

“I’ll be going to college before that happens,” Keith muttered.

Shiro merely shook off the comment and turned towards the door. “Come on, buddy. We should get home.” He gave a wave to the others. “See you guys around, and thanks for keeping Keith out of trouble.”

“I do not get into trouble,” Keith grumbled and pouted. “At least...not on purpose.”

“Besides, that’s my title,” Pidge smirked which caused Lisa and Hunk to both shake their heads.

Shiro chuckled as they left and headed to the car, feeling they were off to a good start in this town.

Down the street from them, Rolo leaned over the steering wheel and watched Shiro and Keith get into in their car and drive away.

“So, what do you think?” he asked as he leaned back in the chair. “Think they’ve seen anything?”

“I sincerely doubt it,” Nyma looked over the map and put an ‘X’ where they had placed another trap. “Those cats do NOT like humans. I can’t see them going near a place that has them.”

“Hmm,” Rolo muttered and gripped his chin. “I don’t know. Those cats are a lot smarter than we thought.” He gave a shrug. “How else can you explain how they’ve been avoiding our traps?”

Nyma shot him a murderous scowl as she leaned back in her chair with a huff. “Well, smartguy, what do you suggest then? He’s not going to pay us a cent until we bring him those furballs.”

Rolo shut his eyes. “What do you think he wants those cats for anyway?”

“I don’t know, maybe he wants to make a fur coat or to eat them,” Nyma leaned on her hand. “Why do you care? Please don’t tell me you’re starting to feel guilty about this?”

“Naw,” Rolo replied as he flipped his hat over his eyes. “We’ve just been camping out in those woods for two months now and was just thinking I’d be ticked off if I found out the guy was going to just set them loose.”

Nyma then gave a cruel smile and crossed her arms. “That we can agree on. With that said, partner, I believe the time has come for a more direct approach.”

Rolo leaned forward in his seat and looked on with interest. “Ooh, do tell, darling. What did you come up with now?”

There was a very good reason why he left the plan making to Nyma.

“We know those cats seem to like other animals, at least, for some strange reason,” Nyma twirled the tip of her hair around a finger. “Remember how the hidden camera showed the green cat got trapped when trying to help that fox?”

“Yeah?” Rolo lifted the brim of his hat.

Nyma’s eyes glowed with wickedness. “So, let’s see what happens if we do a repeat of that, shall we?” She reached back and brought out the tranquilizer gun. 

Rolo gave a low whistle as he gave a half smile. Yup, this was why she was the planner of the two.

08080808080808080808080808080808080808080

The next few days were quiet, and there was no sign of the hunters at all in the woods. Red hoped this meant they had given up, and the forest could return to its quiet, undisturbed existence.

Her sisters were still insistent she find a human home to stay at, and she sensed Black was almost reaching that decision herself. More and more often Red found Black returning to the farmhouse to stare at the adult human.

“He has a good strong heart,” she had insisted. “I can sense it.”

Red didn’t understand nor did she want to. The man looked strong for certain, but he wasn’t any more remarkable than any other human she’d seen.

Although, he and the boy did continue to offer the milk each night. It wasn’t always Red’s preferred choice of goat milk, but Red did appreciate the sentiment all the same. At the very least it did help attract more dust bunnies for Red to chase.

During the day, Red often caught sight of the boy out on his porch sketching when he wasn’t busy assisting the older human on repairing their new home. The boy was small, and his eyes were full of a more mature spirit than Red had witnessed in other children. 

Red was slightly intrigued, but not enough to go near despite her sisters’ constant poking. She refused to give the hunters the satisfaction of driving her into hiding. Red had too much pride for that.

Although, Red would admit, staying inside a warm, dry house did seem tempting on the night of the thunderstorm.

Red growled as she ducked her head out of the abandoned rabbit burrow.

 _I hate water,_ Red thought. _SO. MUCH._

The thunder continued to roar as the raindrops poured in buckets from the clouds above. 

_I hope Black is doing alright. She probably found a much better place to stay dry than I did._

In the past, she and her sisters had always taken shelter at the old farmhouse, but that was impossible now with those new humans there. Before that, Yellow had always had the best luck of the five sisters at locating shelters for them all. Although, they usually had to drag Blue inside with them. She found playing in the rain fun, which Red never understood.

Course, common sense was something Blue greatly lacked.

Green would tease Red, and Blue would bicker with her, until Black told them all to calm down, and they huddled together until the rain stop. 

Red pulled her head back into the burrow and shut her eyes. It was funny, before she had always craved space to be alone with her thoughts, but now Red found it was the opposite. She even missed Blue’s bizarre joy of diving into puddles.

 _I really don’t care for being on my own,_ Red growled to herself. _Maybe if I talk to the others, I could convince them to leave those humans and-_

A mournful meow echoed through the wind. Red flicked her ears as she poked her head out. She heard another meow, and it was more miserable than the last.

 _It’s not Black,_ Red thought with a growl, _still I should investigate._

With great reluctancy, Red forced herself out of the burrow and into the chilling rain. She immediately began to run, deluding herself into thinking if she moved fast enough she wouldn’t get wet.

Despite the cold and the thunder, Red focussed on the distressed call and jumped from tree to tree until she located the source near the 200 year old oak that Green enjoyed napping on. Red carefully perched on one of its lower branches as she moved in for a closer inspection.

A feral cat was trapped in a small cage and was meowing desperately to be set freed.

Red growled. _Those hunters again?! This is getting ridiculous._ She wanted to free her fellow feline, but what if the hunters were around?

She sniffed the air, but any nearby scents were washed away thanks to the rain. Red debated if she should go find Black, but that could take hours and a larger predator could attack the cat before then.

Red scanned the area, and saw no sign of the hunters. _I’ll take the chance,_ Red decided as she leapt to the ground.

She made certain to keep her guard up for any sudden movements as she reached the cage. The feral cat hissed as soon as Red approach, but it only took one loud growl to calm her.

Red spotted the lock and poked at it with her paw. _Can’t unlock it naturally, Red thought. I’ll have to use a bit of magic._

It was harder to do in her current form, but not impossible. Red lowered her head to the lock and shut her eyes as she concentrated. She felt the magic slip from her body and willed it onto the lock.

The magic vibrated inside it and shook until a click was heard. Red panted, but meowed in triumph as she batted the lock away with her paw, and the feral cat cautiously stepped out.

_There, solved that problem. Now I need to-_

Another nearby click was heard, followed by a glint of metal. Red spun around as a whiz sound echoed in the air.

Black leap out of the tree and shoved Red to the side. They tumbled in the wet grass and mud. Red hiss in annoyance as Black hovered above her, but then she saw it.

A silver dart sticking out of the ground where she had stood.

A curse was heard. “Rolo! Shoot again!”

“Be quiet! I’m trying!”

Red’s eyes widened in alarm. It was a trap! The hunters were here!

 _Run, Sister!_ Black growled. _Get into the trees!_

Red didn’t argue. They both made a dash to the oak tree. They scrambled to get to higher ground as they heard the hunters run.

The thunder boomed as Red and Black jumped to get to the next tree, and a shot was fired.

A dart hit Black in the leg and she yowled. Red landed on the next tree and watched in horror as Black plummeted to the ground and landed in a thorn bush.

 _BLACK!_ Red growled and jumped to the ground. Red frantically ran in the direction of the bush as her elder sister limped her way out and collapsed. Black’s legs were covered in fresh cuts and her front right leg seemed bent.

 _Sister,_ Red growled as she went to her. _Can you stand?_

Black looked droozy as she raised her head. _No...tired...Red...run._

Red hissed about to snap she was delusional for suggesting such a thing, when the hunters appeared. Red hissed as she stood in front of Black, but the male hunter only smirked.

“Well, well, kitty, you gave us quite the chase,” he sneered as he pointed the gun at them. “But it ends here, so time to let the tranquilizer do it’s thing.”

Red growled, but was uncertain what to do. She couldn’t leave Black! But if she didn’t leave, she would be caught too.

The female hunter scoffed. “Rolo, just shoot it already!”

“Relax, Darling, I know how to-”

There was a yowl,, and the feral cat Red had freed attacked Rolo’s leg. 

“OW! Get off me!” Rolo yelled as he tried to shake the cat off. “Nyma, help me!”

“I’m trying!” Nyma reached for the cat, but the creature responded by clawing her. 

Red suddenly realized what it was doing and swiftly moved to get Black onto her back. Thank you, Red growled at it before running.

“NNOO! Rolo, they’re getting away,” Nyma cried as she yanked the gun from his hands. “I’m shooting it!”

“NYMA! DON’T YOU’LL-”

A shot was fired! Red ducked as the dart zoomed over their heads and hit the trunk of the tree. She stole one more glance back, and saw the feral cat had decided it was time to run, and the hunters were running after them.

Hiding was hard while carrying Black, but the darkness was her ally as Red hid among the bushes until she found the safety of a hollow log. She caught her breath as they waited inside. It was a huge relief when she heard the hunters run past their hiding place without stopping..

Red turned to Black, who was now asleep from the drug, and winced. 

_My fault,_ she thought bitterly. _She took the shot meant for me._

She debated on what to do. It had been a long time since any of them had gotten this injured, and when they did, they would go to the spring. But it was a long way from here, and Red needed Yellow, Blue, and Green with her to open it. 

Red didn’t dare leave Black by herself to tell them what happened though. There was a high risk those hunters would backtrack and find her here. Still, Black needed help.

Her mind drifted to the farmhouse where the two humans lived.

 _It is nearby, and..they might help._

It hurt her pride, but her sister’s health came first. Red nuzzled Black’s face, then placed her on her back and dashed back out into the rain towards the farmhouse. She only prayed this night wouldn’t get any worse.

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Shiro never minded thunderstorms as a child, and he certainly didn’t mind them now. However, he would be lying if he didn’t at least admit that they made him a little anxious now. After the military discharged him, Shiro had discovered the loud bombing brought back some rather unpleasant memories from his time overseas.

Thankfully, the sessions with his therapist and meditation helped with that. The sounds could still make him anxious, but it was manageable. He made sure all the windows were shu,t and as soon as the storm started, he told Keith he would be meditating in his room if he needed him, which was where Shiro had been for the last hour.

The thunder boomed again, but Shiro only focussed on breathing in and out. In and out. His mind was kept calm as he focussed on the here and now. He was home, and he was safe.

A quiet creaking alerted him to the door opening, and he cracked an eye open..

“Need something, buddy?” Shiro asked as he glanced up from his mat on the floor.

Keith shook his head. “Just wondered if you wanted some company.”

Shiro offered a smile. Keith always did this. He always came to check on Shiro when a storm was going on, and while it wasn’t needed, he appreciated it all the same.

“Sure, I’m about done meditating anyway,” Shiro rotated his shoulders and gestured to the dresser. “Mind turning on the radio?”

That was Shiro second strategy. Playing music to distract himself from the booming greatly helped too.

Keith complied with the request and turned the radio to a station that played classical music before sitting on the floor to lean against Shiro. For a moment, they sat in silence listening to the music as Shiro fiddled with Keith’s hair. The boy was overdue for a haircut.

“So, you like it here, Keith?” Shiro asked.

Keith glanced up with a puzzled frown. “What do you mean?”

Shiro shrugged. “Do like that we moved here? It’s been a few weeks, and I’m just wondering how you’re liking it?”

Keith shut his eyes in thought. “Well...there are lots of places I can sketch, and I like having a bigger room.” He wrinkled his nose. “But...I guess I’m still figuring this place out?”

“Yeah?” Shiro asked and his little cousin confirmed with a nod. It wasn’t quite the answer Shiro had been expecting, but considering they hadn’t been living here long, it was an understandable response. 

“Do you like it here?” Keith glanced up to his cousin.

Shiro wrapped an arm around the boy’s shoulders. “It’s a bit of work to fix up the old place, but I do. It’s peaceful, and this place has given me a lot of ideas to write about for my articles.”

Keith looked skeptical. “Like what?”

“Well, Coran certainly has some good stories,” Shiro continued, “although Lance’s ‘top ten reasons why goats are awesome’ is certainly a fun idea.”

Keith scoffed as he crossed his arms. “He’s weird.”

“Yeah, but he’s fun,” Shiro leaned against the bedframe. “Bet you could be good friends with him, and with Hunk and Pidge for that matter.”

Keith shifted slightly as he fiddled with his socks. “I..I don’t know, I feel like I don’t have a lot in common with them.”

Shiro gave him a gentle hug. “Don’t worry about it. Sometimes making friends just takes time, that’s all,” he gazed down at him. “Maybe we can invite them to have dinner at our place?”

Keith looked uncertain. “We could,” but then shot Shiro a dark look, “but don’t try to bake cookies again.”

Shiro gave a pout. “Hey, those cookies I made last time were fine.”

“They tasted like charcoal,” Keith teased as he poked his side.

“Oh, and you’ve eaten charcoal have you?”

“I did when I ate your cookies, aren’t you listening?”

“Ooh, that does it,” Shiro said as he went to tickle Keith’s sides. “Now you’re getting it!”

“Ha ha! Hey, no fair,” Keith giggled as he tried to tickle back.

THUMP!

Both of them froze and glanced towards the window. 

“What was that?” Keith asked. “Didn’t sound like thunder.”

Shiro rose and glanced outside. “Don’t see anything; it was probably just a tree branch falling or something-”

THUMP!

Shiro froze as he and Keith both turned their attention to the hallway.

“That..sound came from inside,” Keith stated as he climbed to his feet.

Shiro’s eyes narrowed, he blocked Keith with his hand from the door. “Keith, stay here.” He took the cellphone on the dresser and handed it to the boy. “Hold onto this, and stay up here until I tell you to come down, alright?”

Keith looked ready to argue, but shut his mouth and nodded when Shiro shot him a hard look. Shiro then stepped out in the hall and felt old instincts take over as he ventured towards the stairs.

He scanned the rooms, but he heard nothing except the rain outside and saw nothing except the shadows. Shiro kept his back to the wall as he climbed off the last step and strained his ears to listen.

There was movement from the kitchen. Shiro swallowed and grabbed for the umbrella standing next to the front door. He then took a deep breath and crept quietly into the kitchen. If someone had dared to break into their house, Shiro’s best tactic was to catch them off guard.

He crossed the threshold. The umbrella was raised for defense, but there was no one. Shiro blinked and tilted his head in confusion as he glanced from side to side.

“Okay…,” he muttered, “what is going on-”

A pitiful meow was heard. Shiro jumped and spun around. Laying under the table, camouflaged by the shadow, was a cat that was barely able to lift its head.

Shiro stared back dumbstruck, but hastily shook it off as he notice drips of blood on the floor. 

“Hey, Fella,” Shiro spoke in a soothing tone as he peeked under the table. “How did you get in here?”

The cat could barely open its eyes. It was a black cat, with white paws and a white muzzle. It was larger than the typical house cats Shiro had seen, and with the cuts covering its body, it was definitely injured.

“Shiro?”

He turned and saw Keith standing in the doorway with a baseball bat in his hand. Shiro sighed and shook his head. “Didn’t I tell you to wait?”

“I did wait,” Keith replied firmly, “but I got worried and thought you needed back up.” He peeked over Shiro’s shoulders and his eyes widened. “Is that a cat?”

“Yeah,” Shiro sat on his knees. “And he..or she, I suppose, doesn’t look too well.”

Keith rubbed his neck as he looked to Shiro. “What should we do?”

Shiro debated that. They couldn’t leave the poor creature suffering, but it could be feral for all they knew, and being hurt would not make it more friendly. Then he remembered Coran, and how he worked at a veterinary clinic.

“Keith, look up my contacts and give Coran a call and tell him about our furry friend here,” Shiro instructed as he climbed back to his feet. “I’m going to get the first aid kit to see if we have bandages.”

Keith was already dialing before Shiro even stood.

Outside the window, Red peered inside as she watched the humans frantically move, then returned her gaze to the forest. She didn’t care what happened. Red wouldn’t leave her post. She would make certain her sister was safe from those hunters.


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the night proved to be so busy, Shiro almost forgot about the thunderstorm entirely. Coran never answered his cellphone, and when he tried the main number for the clinic it was the same result.

He toyed with the idea of taking the cat to the clinic directly, but that seemed dangerous to do with the storm still going on outside, especially when they weren’t sure if anyone was there. 

Yet, the cat was injured and needed assistance quickly, so Shiro decided to take matters into his own hands. He made certain Keith stayed back as he cleaned and bandaged the cat’s wounds and felt very grateful he still remember his first aid training.

The cat wasn’t very responsive except for the occasional eyeblink. Shiro was half suspicious the cat had been drugged by someone, but had to save those concerns for later. Either way, the cat barely put up a fight as Shiro patched it up.

He and Keith then collected a large basket and lined it with towels. They placed the sleeping cat into the basket in the spare bedroom with a bowl of water before Shiro shut the door.

“Do we really need to keep the door shut?” Keith asked.

“We don’t know when she’ll wake up,” Shiro kneeled to Keith’s level. “And we need to keep both her and us safe if she does. We still don’t know how feral she is.”

Keith glanced to the door as he gave an understanding nod. “What should we do now?”

“Get some sleep ourselves,” Shiro rose and steered Keith towards his room. “Then, in the morning, we’ll take her to the veterinary clinic and see if they can help her out.”

The storm would be over by then, not to mention it would be easier to see where they were going in broad daylight.

Keith’s eyes hardened as he gave a nod and put his hand on the his bedroom door. “How do you think she got into the house, Shiro?”

Shiro frowned puzzled as he drummed his fingers against his elbow. It was bothering him too, since they had shut all the windows in the house. “Don’t know. I’m going to double check everything.” He ruffled Keith’s hair. “In the meantime, try to get some sleep?”

“Yeah, alright,” Keith replied as he opened the door. “But just call me if you need me since the storm is still going on.”

Shiro’s eyes softened. Keith was a good kid. Shiro was the adult, but here was Keith, feeling like he had to take care of Shiro. Although, considering Keith’s mother had gotten ill, Shiro could imagine Keith had done his best to take care of her before she died.

“I will,” Shiro promised as he reached out for Keith and pulled him into a tight hug. “Nice to know I have someone looking out for me,” he snickered as he blew a kiss on Keith’s cheek.

Keith groaned as he attempted to wiggle free. “Arrgh, Shiro! Don’t be weird.”

Shiro laughed, but still kept his hold as Keith blushed and eventually rested his forehead on his chest. Shiro gave him one more hug before releasing him and heading towards the stairs. “Don’t forget to brush your teeth too, okay?”

Shiro saw Keith give a nod before he went down the rest of the stairs and returned to the kitchen.

“Now then,” Shiro muttered as he checked the shut windows. “How did she get in here-”

He trailed off as he realized wet puddles were littered around the door outside the kitchen. 

“Huh,” Shiro whispered as he reached for the paper towels to mop up the mess. “Guess the cat must have brought the water in.”

Shiro paused as he looked over the water and saw the trail of puddles leading to where they had found the cat. It was almost as if the cat and come in through the door, but that made no sense. It had been locked, and besides a cat can’t turn a doorknob...right?

Shiro rubbed his eyes and finished drying off the floor. “Naw, can’t be. Still betting it was a window.”

Yet as Shiro double checked all the windows, they were all still shut tightly like before. The only thing he found unlock was the door. Shiro could only assume he had forgot to lock it. It was the only logical explanation.

 _But still doesn’t explain how the cat got in,_ Shiro’s brain argued, but he decided to ignore it for now. All he could do was double check everything was locked and assume things would make more sense in the morning.

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Keith kept tossing glances to the black cat, fully expecting her to have gotten out of her box, but she didn’t. The cat still seemed strangely content to sit in the box and not crawl around the back seat of the car. He and Shiro had spent a good hour searching the house for some kind of cat carrier, but found nothing.

The best solution they found was a large cardboard box that they lined with towels and placed the cat inside. Keith had been certain the cat would protest, but it didn’t. 

Frankly, the cat was super weird. 

When Shiro had gone to check on her, Keith had half expected the cat to hiss and try to bite him. Yet, when Keith heard nothing after ten minutes, he got concerned and went to check in on him.

He entered the room to find the cat was purring in Shiro’s lap and made very little effort to move. Shiro grinned as he looked up at his cousin.

“She just crawled in after I got her some fresh water,” Shiro explained with a delighted, guilty look on his face. “I didn’t have the heart to move her.”

Keith had raised an eyebrow at it, but Shiro did have a soft spot when it came to dogs and sometimes cats. So, it made sense. However, Keith had fully anticipated the cat would protest being placed into a cardboard box and then put into the car.

She meowed a few times, but besides that, she barely moved an inch. She stared at Keith with an almost amused expression. It was...slightly jarring.

“She’s rather tame for a wild cat,” Keith voiced. “Do you think she’s someone’s pet?”

Shiro shook his head. “If she is, she’s been on her own for a long time,” he made a turn on the road and passed the apple orchard. “Her fur hasn’t been brushed for a long time, and she certainly doesn’t feel like a well fed cat.”

Keith’s jaw dropped. “Not well fed? Shiro, she’s huge!”

Shiro gave a sly grin. “Big in size, yes, but she doesn’t feel like she has a lot of meat on her bones, kiddo. There’s a difference.”

“I beg to differ,” Keith replied, but his rebuttal was cut short as Shiro pulled into a driveway and turned off the engine. 

Keith climbed out of the car and stared up at the small building, while Shiro fetched the cat. It looked like a regular house, except for the large sign that read ‘Veterinary Clinic’. The place wasn’t as big as their farmhouse, but it certainly gave it a good run for it’s money.

Shiro carried the box and poked Keith with his foot. “Let’s go inside and see if Coran or the vet is home.”

Keith followed and the black cat quietly poked her head out of the box to look at him. The boy shifted as he tucked his hands into his pockets. 

It was doing it again. Staring at him with those eyes like it was trying to judge him. Was this normal for cats?

Shiro was oblivious to the staring contest as they entered and glanced around the empty waiting room. “Looks like we’re the first patients of the day.”

The cat gave a meow from the box as Keith approached the desk. “Hey! Is anyone here?”

Clangs echoed from the back, and Keith jumped as the door behind the desk was flung open.

“I’m here! I wasn’t sleeping-” Coran stammered, but his shoulders slumped as he spotted Keith and Shiro. “Oh, it’s you two!” He offered a shaky smile as he placed a hand behind his head. “Well, this is a surprise, what can I do for you?”

Shiro placed the box on the desk and pointed. “We found her last night. She was covered in cuts, and we did our best to bandage her.”

Coran’s eyes widened as he looked inside, and then frowned as he tilted head. “Odd, I’ve never seen her before. Did she have a collar?”

“No,” Shiro said as the cat pawed at his hand for a pat. “Far as I can tell, she’s a stray.”

Coran grasped his chin. “For a stray she seems quite content with strangers.”

“Coran?” 

A woman would long hair tied into a bun poked her head out. “I heard voices, is someone here- Oh?” She quickly rushed to the front and offered a smile. “Hello, there.”

Coran grinned as he gestured to them. “Allura, this is Shiro and Keith, our new neighbours,” he then pointed to Allura. “This is Allura, also known as Doctor Altea.”

Shiro blinked and scratched his head. “You’re the doctor?”

“Yes,” Allura said as she crossed her arms. “Is that a problem?”

“What? Oh, no, no,” Shiro shook his head, “but Coran just made it sound like you were a kid.”

Allura cast a glanced to Coran and rolled her eyes slightly. “Yes, that’s because Coran still tends to see me as a child.”

“Well, I have known you since you were one,” Coran said as a nostalgic look crossed over his face. “Ah, those were the days, when you’re father ran the clinic-”

“Thank you, Coran,” Allura interjected by placing a hand on his shoulder, “but you can reminisce later.” She then peered into the box and and her lips formed a tight frown. “Coran didn’t tell me you owned a cat.”

“We don’t,” Keith leaned against the counter. “We found her during the storm last night and patched her up.”

Allura’s pursed her lips as she leaned over the counter. “That was kind of you to do, but also very risky.” She shook a finger at Shiro. “For all you knew she was feral and could have injured you in the process.”

“But we did call you,” Keith snapped as he swatted at the air. “That was the first thing we did, but when you didn’t answer what were we supposed to do? Let the cat bleed on the floor-”

“Easy there, buddy,” Shiro patted his head, but then looked to Coran. “Although, he is right, we did try calling you and the main clinic, but we never got an answer.”

Allura opened her mouth, but then halted and slowly closed it. “Last night... Oh, dear, yes,” she gave an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but Coran and I weren’t here. We were dealing with an emergency.”

“Yes, a prized horse was have a very difficult delivery,” Coran explained as he shook a finger. “We were at the farm all night and only returned early this morning.”

“Oookay,” Keith said, but was still rather miffed, “but we called your cell phone. Why didn’t you answer that?”

Coran coughed as he tugged at his shirt collar and gave a sheepish grin. “If you did get my cell phone, I’m afraid I didn’t get the message.”

Allura frowned in concerned. “Why? What happened to it this time?”

Coran looked reluctant to speak, but he slumped his shoulders in defeat as Allura continued to stare at him. “...It was sat on...by a cow.”

Allura rubbed her eyes. “Again?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Coran gave a guilty looked to Shiro. “In any case, I’m afraid it’s my fault you weren’t able to contact us.”

“It’s fine,” Shiro picked up the box. “I’m just more concern if this cat is okay.”

Allura looked slightly dazed, but upon seeing the cat poke her head out of the box, she instantly straightened pose. “Yes, of course, we’ll take her to the back.”

“Yes, and on that note,” Coran leaned over the counter and pointed to the door. “This may takes some time, but Pidge is around the back of the clinic if you wish to see her.”

Keith blinked and took a step back. He forgot Pidge lived here, and he hadn’t been expecting to see her. He hadn’t really hung out with her since their little gathering at Hunk’s bakery. They didn’t really know each other. Would she be okay if he just dropped by? 

“Um..I wasn’t-” he stammered, but Shiro cut to the chase and ruffled his hair.

“Go ahead, Keith,” Shiro encouraged. “Go say ‘hi’. I’m sure this won’t take long.”

Keith pouted, not positive if he wanted to do this, but gave a sigh and nodded. He watched the adults venture towards the door, then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his shorts as he headed outside.

Once he moved around back, it didn’t take long to spot Pidge. She was sitting on the porch typing rapidly on a laptop. Green was growling as she chased a butterfly, then proceeded to pounce on a dandelion.

Without looking up, Pidge gave a disgruntled snort. “I’m outside, Coran,” she stated, “but I refuse to give up my laptop. I need it to work on this code-”

“Um, it’s me,” Keith rubbed his neck.

Pidge froze, looking up, and blushed slightly. “Oh, sorry,” she said, then shook her head. “Wait, what are you doing here so early?”

“Shiro and I found an injured cat and brought her here to be checked out,” Keith pointed to the spot next to her. “Um..can I sit here?”

Pidge shrugged. “Knock yourself out.”

Keith sat and leaned against the house as Pidge went back to her typing. He tried not to pry, but noticed a sticker on the front of her laptop and frowned in confusion. “Who’s Katie?”

Pidge raised a hand without looking up. “That’s me,” she stated, “Pidge is just the nickname my brother, Matt, gave me when I was six.”

“Oh,” Keith crossed his legs. “I didn’t know you have a brother.”

“He’s away at college right now,” Pidge said as Green scooted over for a pat. “Normally, he’d be home, but he decided to go traveling with some friends in Europe.”

Keith could only nod since he wasn’t sure how else to respond to that. They sat in silence, and Keith began to wonder if he would have been better off staying with the adults, until Pidge shut her computer.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” she asked.

Keith tilted his head as his eyes narrowed. “I guess.”

“Where are your parents?” Pidge set her arms on her computer. “Coran said you moved here with your cousin.”

Keith’s body went tense as he turned his gaze away from Pidge to watch a bee gathering nectar from a dandelion. He knew it was bound to come up sooner or later, but Pidge was the first to be this direct about it.

“I don’t have any,” Keith explained as he hugged his knees to his chest. “I never met my dad and my mom...died a few years ago. Shiro’s my cousin, but he’s also technically my foster parent.”

He expected Pidge to stammer or give him a look of pity. Instead, she leaned over her laptop. “My mom died too, when I was little.”

Keith turned to her and saw the trace of melancholy he had seen in his own eyes. “Yeah?” he said slowly.

Pidge nodded. “I was little, but I was old enough to remember her,” she set her laptop aside and Green moved into her lap. “Sorry, about your mom. I know I miss mine.”

Keith’s eyes softened. He had met other kids who had lost parents, but normally they were kids he only knew in brief passing. “Thanks, and sorry about your mom,” he said, then licked his lips. “What about your dad?”

Pidge’s sad smile vanished and was replaced by a proud smirk. “He’s alive, and he’s a good dad.”

“Then how come you’re not living with him?” Keith blurted and instantly regretted it when he realized how it sounded. “Um..I didn’t mean-”

“Naw, it’s cool,” Pidge stroked Green’s ears. “He got offered this fun job, but it involves a lot of travelling and since I’m deemed ‘too young to stay home by myself’ my choices were to either go across the country to stay with my aunt, or stay with Coran and Allura.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Your dad is okay letting you stay with neighbours?”

“Coran and my dad are old friends; he’s like an uncle to me,” Pidge said with a shrug, “and Allura acts like my older sister, anyway. So, it’s not that weird.”

Ketih lifted his head back up as he mulled that over. “That’s nice you’ve got people wanting to take you in,” he said. “When my mom died, I got shuffled around a lot until Shiro offered to take me.”

Pidge gave a nod. “I know it was hard for my dad when mom died,” she fiddled with a blade grass. “Granted, I don’t talk much about it except with Matt.”

Keith understood that. It wasn’t exactly a topic people wanted to discuss. The only person Keith had spoken to about it was Shiro. 

_Although,_ Keith thought, _Pigde probably understands it better than even he does in some ways._

“I’m just glad I could stay in town,” Pidge continued. “I know Lance and Hunk would be worried about me.”

“You’ve been friends a long time?” Keith asked, feeling curious.

Pidge snorted. “Pretty much, and, yes, they have always been weird.”

Keith was tempted to ask if Pidge had always been weird too, but decided to drop it. Besides, Keith had a gut feeling if they got into a fight, Pidge would win hands down.

The creaking of a door was heard and both the children turned to see Coran enter. 

“I hope you two are having a nice chat,” the man sat in-between them.

Pidge looked at Keith, then surprised him with a small smile. “Yeah, we are.”

Keith felt a bit of warmth at that, but Coran didn’t seem to notice as he gave an approving nod. 

“Good, that’s excellent to hear,” he looked to Keith. “I also came to inform you, the examination is almost done, and you can head back inside.”

Keith dropped his smile as he leaned forward. “Is the cat okay?”

“Yes, thankfully,” Coran replied as he folded his arms. “She’ll need a few days to heal, but she’ll recover. Poor thing looks as if she fell out of a tree.”

Pidge pushed her ponytail over her shoulder as she looked to Keith. “What exactly happened to it?”

Keith shrugged. “No clue, she just literally appeared in our house covered with cuts. It was kind of freaky.”

Pidge gave a smirk. “Maybe it was the works of the ghosts there?”

“Now, Pidge, no teasing the boy,” Coran scolded as he shook a finger and glanced to Keith. “It’s not uncommon for wild animals to sneak inside now and again.” He gave a laugh. “Why, one time, I found a family of squirrels in my kitchen cupboard using my dinner plates as beds.” He brushed a tear from his eyes. “Ah, memories.”

Keith wasn’t convinced, but gave a nod anyway.

“Even so,” Coran said as he twirled his mustache. “Sorry if Allura was too harsh earlier, but the locals here tend to want to step in to help an injured animal without a second thought, especially if it’s an injured cat.”

“That part is true,” Pidge said as she hugged her laptop to her chest. “And it’s caused a lot of problems for people who don’t know what they’re doing.”

“Oh,” Keith replied. That explained Allura’s scolding earlier. “People around here like animals that much?”

“That is part of the reason,” Coran said, then glanced around and whispered, “however, the true reason is that local lore says it’s bad luck to walk away from an animal, especially a cat, that’s been harmed.”

Green’s head shot up, and she gave a small meow before crawling out of Pidge’s lap to attack some flowers.

Keith watched the cat for a moment before looking back to Coran. “I wouldn’t leave an animal that’s been hurting, but why is it bad luck.”

Coran gave a gleeful grin. “That is partly because of an old story, which I was personally told by my grandfather.” 

He wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulder and point it to the woods. “According to legend, the forest was once protected by a powerful spirit named Voltron. She was powerful, could shake the trees just by walking, and most incredible of all, was her magical spring that would grant powerful magic and immortality to those who drank from it. It was forbidden for mortal humans to use, but Voltron used the spring’s water to keep the forest trees alive and everlasting for generations.”

Keith’s eyes widened, and despite feeling awkward in the man’s hold, looked on with interest. “Whoa.”

“Indeed,” Coran continued. “Voltron loved the creatures of the forest like her own children and used the spring to ensure the forest would be there for ages to come.”

Keith stared out into the forest, almost expecting to see this legendary spirit emerge. “Is Voltron still there?”

Coran shook his head. “Alas, according to legend, Voltron grew weary and decided the time had come return to the spirit world, but she could not leave the spring unguarded. She feared to even comprehended what would happen if it fell into evil hands.” 

Coran held up five fingers. “So, she divided up her remaining magic among five cats, who will transform into five majestic lions if ANYONE dares to try take the spring for themselves.”

Keith’s sense of awe vanished as he raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Magical cats?”

“It’s true,” Coran insisted. “They say the cats roam the forest to this day, protecting both the creatures and the spring itself. Hence, for all you know, that cat you brought in could very well be one of those chosen cats.”

“Thus, you don’t want to tick off a cat with magic powers by not helping it, right?” Pidge explained with a shrug,

“Correct, or any of animal friends it might have,” Coran added with a laugh.

Keith leaned on his hands. “That has to be the strangest superstition I have ever heard.”

“Heh, that’s nothing! The weirdest part is that a lot of people do believe the forest has spirits,” Pidge continued. “There are even stories of people hunting for the five cats in hoping to find the spring.”

“Yes, yes, I can’t deny I have seen a fair amount of historians and researchers trying to find out more about the story,” Coran explained.

Keith paused as he recalled Rolo and Nyma. Could those guys be searching for the spring too? That would explain the bizarre questions they had asked Keith.

Coran cleared his throat as he smoothed out his shirt. “Well, that’s enough storytelling for the moment,” he stood. “We best go see Allura and Shiro, or they’ll begin to believe we’ve run off on them.”

“Uh... yeah,” Keith climbed to his feet and gave a nod to Pidge. “Guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sure, and I can drag Lance and Hunk with me too if you want,” Pidge offered.

Keith groaned. “Please don’t or Lance will drag me to his goat farm again.”

He expected Pidge to laugh, but she gave smirk and nod instead. “Yeah, he probably will.”

Keith wasn’t certain how he was suppose to take the reply as he followed Coran back into the house.

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Shiro watched as Allura placed on the new bandages. “So, she’s going to be alright?”

“Yes,” Allura said with a smile as she petted the cat. “She will need her bandages changed, but she should recover.” She gave a thoughtful frown. “Now, I must ask you what you wish to do with her?”

Shiro raised his head and narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Are you going to keep her?” Allura asked. “If you’re not able, I can care for her here. Although, I can contact the animal shelter if you’d rather-”

The cat sat up and before Shiro could move, began rubbing her head against his chest. He gave a chuckle and reached down to stroke her ears which seemed to please her.

“I’m going to keep her at my house,” he said thoughtfully. The cat really seemed to like him for some reason. Shiro was half certain even if he did leave her here, he’d go home to find the cat sitting at his doorstep.

Allura giggled. “My goodness, she does seem attached to you,” she then dropped her smile and grasped her chin. “Although, there is one thing that does concern me.”

Shiro lifted the cat up into his arms. “What’s that?”

Allura picked up the leftover bandages and placed them back into her supply cupboard. “I’ve heard rumors about some researchers stalking the woods as of late.”

Shiro’s eyes hardened. “You mean Rolo and Nyma?”

Allura seemed taken aback slightly as she shut the cupboard. “You’ve heard of them.”

“I met them,” Shiro explained. “They asked me if I ever had any animal problems, and I know they’re hanging out in those woods near my place.”

Allura sighed. “I was afraid of that,” she muttered as she storked the cat. “I can’t help but wonder if...perhaps those two were why this cat was injured.”

Shiro’s eyes widened. “Why would those two be after a cat?”

“Because of a silly old story that if you find five guardian cats they will take you to a magical spring of water.”

Shiro opened, then shut his mouth as memories came back to him. “The spring of Voltron,” he muttered. “I know that story. My uncle used to tell me about it all the time as a kid. I completely forgot about it.”

“I wish more people would,” Allura said darkly as she crossed her arms. “My father had to deal with many foolish people that thought hunting down the right cat would lead them to the spring, and a lot of animals were hurt as a result.”

Shiro put the pieces of Allura’s story together in his head. “Do you think Rolo and Nyma caused this cat to be hurt?” he asked as the cat purred.

“I don’t know, and I certainly have no evidence to prove my claim,” Allura stated. “Still, if I were you, I would keep a very close eye on that cat. People can do many stupid things if they believe fairytales are true.”

Shiro nodded in agreement as the door opened behind them and Keith entered.

“Coran said the cat is okay?” Keith asked as he looked.

“Uh, yeah,” Shiro said as he stroked the cat’s ears. “So, we’re going to take her home and take care of her.”

Keith began to nod, then abruptly stopped. “Wait, are we seriously keeping her?”

Shiro shrugged. “Neither of us are allergic to cats, so can’t see why not.”

“Not to mention she will be useful for keeping the field mice out,” Coran voiced from the hallway.

Keith frowned as he locked eyes with the cat. “What are you going to name it?”

“Good question,” Shiro held the cat up to stare into her eyes. The cat flicked her tail as she tapped one of her white paws on his nose. Then it hit him, and he gave a girn.

“I’ll call her Black,” Shiro declared.

Keith choked and looked as if he just swallowed swamp water. “You’re not serious?”

Shiro said nothing as he turned back to Allura. “Let’s finish up the paperwork so Keith and I can take her home.”

“Certainly,” Allura said as she lead the way. “I’ve got some collars too if that’s useful.”

Keith tugged at Shiro’s arm. “You didn’t answer my question,” he repeated. “You’re REALLY not naming her that right?”

Shiro only grinned as the cat began to purr in his arms.


	7. Chapter 7

Keith wasn’t sure if he should be amazed or worried on how fast the cat adapted to living in the house with them. Until she was fully healed, Allura had instructed them to keep Black inside the house. Keith had predicted this would be difficult since Black had been living outdoors until now, but Black seemed to enjoy being inside.

She was oddly attached to Shiro. Black always seemed to be trailing after him, or napping in the corner of the room when he was working on his articles. She seemed like a nice cat. Black was plenty affectionate to Shiro and even to Keith.

Yet, there was just something strange about her. She continued to give Keith hard stares, like trying to decide if he was worthy and Keith wasn’t even certain what it was judging him for.

Then there was the dumb name Shiro picked out for her. On the third morning since Black’s arrival, Keith gave Shiro an unimpressed snort across the breakfast table.

“Are you seriously going to keep calling her ‘Black’?” he asked.

Shiro lowered the newspaper he’d been reading and glance downward to Black, who was snoozing in a patch of sun on the floor. “What do you mean?”

Keith rolled his eyes and reached for a piece of toast. “Why couldn’t you give her a cool name like ‘Midnight’ or ‘Claws’ or ‘Killer’?” 

Shiro sipped his coffee and shrugged. “Why do you sound so offended?”

Keith could not believe he was having this conversation. “Because ‘Black’ has to be the most unoriginal name I have ever heard for a black cat.”

 _Besides, it’s bad enough Lance got Hunk and Pidge to name their cats after colours too,_ Keith thought to himself. 

When Pidge had heard about Black as they left the vet clinic, she had laughed herself silly. Didn’t help matters that she had blabbed to Lance and now he was insisting they should just start a cat club.

Why would Keith join a cat club? Black wasn’t even his cat, she had clearly claimed Shiro as her owner. He was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with the town’s drinking water.

Black raised her head and twitched her ears at the pair of them.

Shiro gave a laugh. “What can I say, Black just seems to suit her.” He leaned over and gave a smirk. “If you want though, I can change her name to something more ‘original’ like say…’Mittens’.”

Keith froze at the name and stuck out his tongue in disgust. “Uh..no that’s too..cutesty.” 

“Okay, how about Princess?” Shiro suggested again.

“No, please,” Keith begged although Black gave a soft meow to hint she approved.

“Fluffy then?” Shiro continued with a teasing grin. “No, wait, how about Cuddles-”

“I take it back!” Keith said as he raised his hands in defeat and then leaned back in his chair with a pout. “At least Black won’t cause me to die of embarrassment.”

Shiro laughed as he returned to sipping his coffee and reading the paper. “So, what are your plans today?”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Um..helping you patch up the roof?” he said as he pointed upward.

Shiro gave a smile as Black stretched out and approached the table. “Appreciate the help, but Coran is coming over to give me a hand.”

“Oh,” Keith said slowly as he slouched over the table. “Then..I guess I’ll go read a book.”

Shiro quirked an eyebrow and smirked. “You did that yesterday. How about inviting Pidge, Lance and Hunk over?”

Keith frowned as he tilted his head. “Why would I do that? I just saw them.”

“It was a couple of days ago,” Shiro said as he folded the paper. “Coran was already thinking of bringing Pidge over anyway, so why not invite Lance and Hunk too?”

Keith rubbed his neck. “I..have no idea what we would do.”

“Show them around,” Shiro suggested. “You’ve been over to their places a few times now. I’m thinking it’s time to return the favor.”

“I don’t go to Lance’s place willingly; he keeps dragging me there,” Keith corrected. “Besides, they’ve seen the porch.”

“But not your room,” Shiro replied.

Keith pouted. “Shiro…”

“It’ll be fun,” Shiro insisted as he shrugged. “Just give it a try, and if it’s a disaster I’ll buy you ice cream later.”

Keith wanted to argue it would take more than ice cream to make up for it, but he went silent as he felt both Shiro and Black lock their gazes at him. His shoulders dropped in defeat as he crossed his arms. “Fine, I’ll invite them over.”

Shiro gave a smile as he rose and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Let’s finish up breakfast then, and I’ll give their folks a call.”

Keith slumped in his chair as he turned his attention back to his breakfast. However, he felt a pair of eyes upon him and his body went stiff. He lifted his head and saw Black sitting in the middle of the table with her eyes locked onto him.

“Shiro, she’s staring at me again,” Keith complained and wondered if he was allowed to move.

“It’s fine, Keith,” Shiro voiced as he filled up the kitchen sink. “She’s just curious about what you’re eating.”

Keith didn’t believe it. He had seen other animals stare at him because they wanted his food in the past. This didn’t have that feeling. Black’s eyes squinted at him like she was reading his mind. 

Suddenly losing his appetite, Keith rose, picked up his plate and sharply turned on his heel to empty the plate in the garbagecan, but Black still stared at him.

“That cat is weird,” Keith hissed as he brought the plate for Shiro to wash.

Shiro shook his head. “Well, maybe you’re a bit strange to her.”

“Shiro, I’m not joking,” Keith insisted as he picked up a dish towel. “Don’t you think it’s a bit odd she just appeared during that thunderstorm, and we still don’t know how she got inside?”

The more Keith had thought about it, the more it bothered him. A cat, covered in cuts shows up in the middle of a thunderstorm? It felt like the beginning of a horror novel.

Shiro squirted some dish soap in the sink. “It is weird, but animals are clever. I wouldn’t worry that much over it.”

Keith sighed. No matter how many times he argued it, Shiro was in denial that there was anything strange about Black. Keith decided to drop the topic for now as Shiro handed him a plate to dry. The boy did his best to focus on drying, but still felt the cat’s eyes staring at his back.

 _There is something weird about that cat,_ Keith thought. _I just know it._

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Under the porch stairway, Red sat quietly as she watched the two humans leave and drive away in the car. 

_About time,_ Red growled to herself. _I thought they would never leave._

She did a quick scan of the front yard before leaving her hiding place and walked up the steps. Red had not dared to go far from the house in case the hunters showed up, but so far there had been no sign of them. Yet, she knew they were still searching for her and her sister. It was too dangerous to go back into the woods, but it was becoming difficult to keep out of sight.

Red approached the front door and with a flick of her tail used the little magic she had in this form to unlock it. The lock gave a hard click and then swung open. Red wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Black standing in the hallway waiting for her.

 _Remember to lock it before you leave They’re still rather jittery from the thunderstorm,_ Black instructed.

Red nodded as she batted the door with her paw and ran in before the door shut. _How are you recovering?_

 _Still a bit sore,_ Black admitted as she licked at her paw, _but I’ve had worse._

Red wanted to apologize again. Black’s injuries were her fault. If she hadn’t been so careless, Black never would have had to dive in and save her. Nevertheless, Black insisted she had apologized enough already and would growl if Red tried again.

 _Still no signs of the hunters,_ Red replied. _At least, I haven’t seen them._

Black ceased her grooming and folded her front paws. _They’re still out there,_ she said. _And they’re names are Nyma and Rolo._

Red hissed. She didn’t care what their names were. They were a menace.

 _The goods news, however, is that at least Shiro is aware of them,_ Black continued.

Red blinked. _Shiro?_

 _The tall human,_ Blacked explained, _and the boy is named Keith._

 _Oh...I see,_ Red thought as she sat and crossed her own paws. _What do you wish to do once you’re healed, sister?_

Although, Red had a feeling what the answer was.

Black stretched out her body as she flicked her ears. _I’m staying right here. The woods are no longer safe._

Red lowered her head, but nodded. She didn’t like the answer, but Red had no place to argue seeing as she was responsible for Black’s predicament in the first place. 

_You’re staying here too,_ Black promptly informed her.

Red choked as she jumped up. _What?!_

 _I’ve been studying Keith, and Blue is correct, he would be a good match for you,_ Black said. _We’ll both be safe here._

 _No,_ Red insisted. _I’m not staying-_

 _Sister, there is no arguing in this!_ Black growled and bared her teeth. _The forest is no longer a haven for us. Living with a human is our only option! We need to keep both us and the spring safe! Is that clear?!_

Red growled, but her anger melted as her eyes glanced again at Black’s bandages. In her gut, she knew her sister was right. They had had too many close calls now, and Black wouldn’t insist this much if it wasn’t for good reason.

Red relaxed her body and sat in defeat. _Very well,_ Red agreed. _But how exactly do we plan to get these two humans to keep me when they have you already?_

Black purred as she rubbed her head against Red’s. _Don’t worry, I have a feeling it will be much easier than you think._

Red nuzzled against her sister, but she was not in a mood to return the purr.

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Keith sat on the porch with his legs crossed as he stared in disbelief. “Did you guys really need to bring your cats?”

Blue purred happily as Lance scratched her eyes. “Hey, I figured she and your cat could become buds.”

“Black is NOT my cat,” Keith replied for what felt like the tenth time. “If she belongs to anyone, it’s Shiro.”

“Still doesn’t mean they can’t become friends,” Lance shrugged. “She gets along well with Yellow and Green.”

Yellow and Green raised their heads from the spot they had been napping under the chair.

Pidge raised her hand. “I will say in my and Hunk’s defense, our cats basically go where they want.”

“Yeah,” Hunk said as he fiddled with the seeds of a fluffy dandelion. “Yellow usually prefers to stick around the bakery, but as soon as I said I was going to your place she was glued to my side.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the cats. It was rather bizarre. When he and Shiro had gone to pick up Hunk at the bakery, Yellow had jumped into Shiro’s car the second it was opened. Hunk had tried to coax Yellow out of the car, but she absolutely refused and hide under Shiro’s seat.

Shiro just laughed and said it was fine. Although, he did seem rather surprise when Lance revealed he was bringing Blue for the visit too. Keith was still baffled why Shiro allowed him to do so.

Keith had hoped the weirdness would end there, but then Coran and Pidge arrived with Green sticking her head out of the window. As a result, all three cats were sitting outside on the porch, and Keith kept feeling like he was the only sane person.

“So, what do you guys want to do?” Pidge asked as she scooped Green into her lap. “Shiro and Coran are going to be busy with the roof for awhile.”

“We could go watch them?” Hunk suggested.

Keith shook his head. “Shiro would just insist we go play somewhere, and besides, I doubt it’s that interesting.” 

From what Keith saw, all they were doing were taking turns holding the ladder and passing things up to each other. It’d be as entertaining as watching paint dry.

“How about we go see Keith and Shiro’s new cat?” Lance asked. “Hunk and I haven’t seen her yet.”

Keith sighed as he slumped but rose to his feet. It wasn’t like he could come up with anything better. “Let’s go then,” he said as he went for the door.

The others followed him inside, and Keith lead the way down the hall and up the stairs. He glanced behind, and notice all three cats were trailing faithfully after them.

“Just to warn you,” Keith said as they reached the top step. “I don’t know if Black likes other cats.”

“We’ll be fine,” Lance said as he rolled his eyes. “Besides, how could anyone hate Blue?”

Keith wasn’t as convinced, but decided to trust Lance’s judgment. He peeked into Shiro’s room, expecting to see Black snoozing on his bed, but she wasn’t there. Keith frowned and scratched his head.

“Huh...maybe she’s in the kitchen?” he said as he shut the door. _Although, we did go past it on the way there. You think I would have heard her._

A meow suddenly came from across the hall. Pidge tilted her head as she stared at the room where it definitely came from. “Um...what room is that?”

“My room,” Keith said as, “but Black has never gone in unless I was in there.”

Hunk approached the door, but stopped as he reached for the knob and Yellow began to paw at the door. “Alright, if we go in?”

“Sure,” Keith crossed his arms. Truthfully, he still felt weird. He never had other kids in his room before, but it wasn’t as if he had anything to hide.

Hunk smiled as he turned the knob and looked in. “Hey, there she is!” He poked his head inside. “Sitting on top of your bed…”

Hunk trailed off and abruptly stepped back out. He held a deep frown as if someone had told him to peel an orange with a potato peeler.

“You okay?” Lance asked as he scooped Blue up into his arms.

Hunk said nothing as he looked straight at Keith. “Uh...I thought you said you only had the one cat?”

“We do,” he tucked his hands into his pockets.

Hunk continued to keep his baffled expression as he pointed into Keith’s bedroom. “Then why are there two cats sitting on your bed?”

“What?!” Keith dashed forward and entered his bedroom. His jaw dropped. 

Hunk had been correct. Sitting on his bed were two cats. One of them was Black, who was currently using Keith’s pillow as her own bed. The second was a cat Keith had never seen before. It’s had a reddish tint to its fur, and the same white markings as Black, as well as Green, Blue and Yellow for that matter.

The red cat was sitting up right in the middle of Keith’s bed with it’s tail swishing from side to side like it planned to pounce on a mouse at any moment.

“Whoa,” Pidge muttered as she and Lance glanced over his shoulder. “There really is a second cat.”

Keith shook his head to regain his senses and swiftly went to open his window. “Shiro!” he called out. “Why is there another cat in my room?!”

Shiro glanced up from the ground where he had been holding the ladder for Coran. “What?” he yelled. “I can’t hear you!”

Keith was about to shout again, but Lance shoved his way through. “THERE’S A SECOND CAT IN HERE….AND SHE LOOKS VERY GROUCHY!”

The red cat gave a growl like she had taken offense to that, although Blue purred as if it had amused her.

Shiro blinked and tilted his head. “What?..Okay, hold on, I’m coming up!”

The boys watched Shiro head off into the house, and Keith chewed his lip as he pulled his head back inside. “Um..thanks, Lance,” he mumbled. “Wow, your voice carries.”

Lance snorted. “When you have as big of a family as I do, having a loud voice is a survival strategy.”

Keith didn’t know how to respond to that, and was grateful when he heard Shiro’s steps thunk on the stairway.

“Alright, I’m here,” he said as he entered. “Now what is this about a..” Shiro cut himself off as he locked eyes with the red cat. “...Where did that cat come from?”

“That’s what I’m asking?” Keith said trying to keep his frustration under wraps. “We just literally walked in and found this cat in here with Black.”

“Maybe it’s a friend that Black let inside?” Pidge asked as she got a few inches closer. 

“I’m more concerned about if it’s friendly or not,” Hunk said as he held back a wiggling Yellow from the bed. “It doesn’t exactly look thrilled to see us.”

The red cat stood up with her ears folding back and growled. Keith stood on guard, despite Shiro stepping in front of him and the other kids. Yet, Black stood and batted at the cat like she was a mother scolding her kitten. The new cat flicked its ears, jumped off the bed and darted right between Shiro’s legs.

To the shock and amazement of the whole room, the new cat rub it’s head against Keith’s leg. A purr was then heard as it curled around Keith’s legs as if it did it everyday. 

Keith was frozen and hesitant if he should even dare to move. What if the thing scratched him just for blinking? He glanced downward and the cat stare back with its eyes full of determination like it dared Keith to try to escape.

“Huh, looks like she’s attached to you,” Hunk knelt down, still keeping a careful grip on Yellow.

“I’d rather it not be,” Keith grumbled with his arms crossed.

Green approached and poked her nose against the new cat’s head. Pidge looked prepare to scoop her up if the new cat attacked, but it wasn’t needed. The new cat butted its head against Green as it continued to purr, then sat at Keith’s feet while tilting its head at him.

Keith let out the lungful of air he’d been holding. “Okay, what is up with this thing?”

“It’s likes you,” Lance declared. “Blue pretty much did the same thing when I found her.”

Keith arched an eyebrow. He didn’t see how that was suppose to make him feel better.

Shiro lips formed a firm line as he sat on the floor and held out his hand. “Hey there...girl? Yeah, you’re a girl. How did you get in here?”

The red cat folded her ears back, but after glancing over to Black, she lowered her head and rubbed it against Shiro’s hand.

“Hmm...she seems friendly enough,” Shiro glanced over her. “And no sign of a collar? We should take her to Allura and get her checked out.”

Blue wiggled out of Lance’s arms and trotted over. Red growled, but didn’t fight back as Blue nuzzled her neck.

“Hey, she likes Blue too!” Lance said excitedly.

Keith couldn’t care less about that as he scooted next to Shiro. “And, what do we do with her afterward?” he asked. “Take her to the animal shelter?”

All the cats’ ears went up in alarm, except for Black who decided to take a nap on the floor.

Shiro shook his head. “If Allura says she’s fine, then we might as well keep her too.”

Keith choked and nearly fell over. “What?! Why do we need two cats?!”

Shiro smirked. “If I have a cat, it’s only fair for you to get one!”

“I don’t need cat!” Keith argued.

“Hey, I guess this means Keith is part of the cat club,” Lance said, then snapped his fingers. “Oh, you should totally name her ‘Red’!”

“I’m not naming her ‘Red,’ and she’s not my cat,” Keith said.

Shiro only laughed as he ruffled his hair. “You need a cat, Buddy. It’ll be good for you.”

Keith didn’t feel as convinced and judging by the cat’s sullen expression, she didn’t believe it either.

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Keith had a cat. No matter how many times he blinked at it or pinched himself, it wouldn’t disappear, and he would still have a cat.

Allura had ended up making a house call since she had planned to come over to check up on Black anyway. To Keith’s amazement, Allura’s assessment of the cat went fast, and she also encouraged Keith to keep her as his own pet. Keith wanted to protest since he had no intention of getting a cat, but Shiro continued to insist it would be good for him and that was it. Keith, despite being rather dumbstruck by the whole affair, accepted his fate and thus had the cat eating in the kitchen from her new filled bowl.

“She is a pretty cat,” Pidge commented as she sat on the floor. “And ‘Red’ does seem to suit her.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “I’m not naming her Red.” 

Lance shot Keith a challenging frown as Yellow and Green wrestled playfully on the floor. “Alright, so what are you going to name her?”

Keith opened and promptly shut his mouth. Shoot, he never thought that far ahead and he was terrible at naming things. “Uh...Killer?”

“That’s a terrible name,” Hunk retorted.

“Uh..Tom?” Keith said recalling an old cartoon he used to watch with his mom.

“She’s a girl,” Pidge argued with her arms crossed. “Try again?”

“Um…,” Keith scratched his head. “Mittens?”

Lance burst out laughing and Keith instantly regretted speaking. “Oh man! I take it back! That’s a way better name!”

Keith snarled and noticed the cat did the same , which only caused him to blush more. After feeling everyone stare at him, he gave a pout and sighed. “Fine, I’m naming her ‘Red’ happy?”

Lance grinned, and Keith noticed Blue purred. Were those two mentally linked or something? 

Pidge leaned against her hand as she looked over all the cats in the kitchen. “You know..I have been wondering if these cats are all from the same litter?”

Hunk tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Well, they have similar white markings,” Pidge voiced as she scooped up Green and pointed to her paws. “Also, they were all stays, and they look about the same age.”

Keith narrowed his eyes as he glanced back to Red, who was sitting next to Black under the table. “It would certainly explain why Black seems comfortable around her and why she invited her in.”

“To be fair, you don’t know for certain if Black let her in,” Hunk interjected. “I mean, animals can find ways of getting inside.” Right then Blue began to poke her paw at Red, and she barely lifted her head. “Still, they do seem real relax around each other.”

Keith frowned as he watched the cats. “It’s weird,” he muttered.

Lance rolled his eyes. “As you have mentioned a few times.”

“But it is,” Keith insisted. “Why would five cats just appear out of-”

Lance poked his forehead. “Dude, you are thinking about it way too hard, just be happy you got a pet.”

Keith didn’t feel as convinced as he rubbed his forehead, but Lance ignored him as he suddenly reached into his backpack. “With that said, check out what I found in my dad’s old trunk.”

Lance pulled out five walkie talkies and gleefully handed one to each person. “Aren’t these neat?! With these we can talk to each other whenever we want!”

Pidge gave Lance a skeptical look. “Why do we need these when we have cellphones and, you know, e-mail?”

“Because these are way cooler,” Lance insisted. “And, hey, you never know there might be an emergency when we’ll need them.”

Keith fiddled with the buttons and was stunned to hear the static as he flipped it on. “Huh, it still works,” he muttered. “...Keeping these for an emergency might not be a bad idea.”

“Ha! See,” Lance held up his walkie talkie. “Keith thinks I was a brilliant!”

“Hey! I never said that!” Keith argued while blushing.

Hunk and Pidge laughed as the two continued to argue more. At the same moment, Blue went under the table to join the other cats.

 _Well, you certainly seemed to have changed your tune about living with a human,_ Blue teased as she poked Red’s side. _Look at you, becoming a cute little house cat._

Red huffed as she turned her head away. _Shut it, sister._

 _Just wait until you get a collar like me,_ she continued. _You’ll look so cute! Oh, maybe you’ll get a bow!_

Red shot her a glare as Yellow and Green meowed playfully. _Blue, don’t tease her too badly,_ Yellow growled.

 _I’m teasing her all I want,_ Blue stretched out on the floor. _On that note, I do believe you made the right choice, sister._

Red growled as she tossed a look at Black. _I wasn’t exactly given a choice._ She looked back to Blue. _On that note, mind explaining to me how in the Spirit’s name you got your humans to call you by your actual names?_

Blue flicked her tail. _Well, Lance was the one to suggest calling Yellow and Green by their names to fall in pattern with mine._

Red’s eyes narrowed. _Then how did you end up with Blue as your name?_

Blue tilted her head and shut her eyes. _He knew._

 _That doesn’t explain it, sister,_ Red argued.

 _But that’s what happened,_ Blue said with a shrug. _We looked at each other, connected, and he just knew my name._

 _I understand,_ Black raised her head and yawned. _That’s what happened between me and Shiro._

Red crossed her front paws over each other. _Your humans just knew? How?_

Blue chuckled. _Classic Red, always overthinking it. My human just knew, and that’s all there was to it._

Red tilted her head. _It’s almost sounds like you’re reading each other’s minds._

But that was impossible. Humans didn’t have that natural ability, and the only one they had ever been that strongly connected to was Voltron.

Blue purred as she rolled onto her back to play at the tablecloth that hung over the edge. _Maybe, but who cares. I’m having fun with Lance._

 _I think we should still be concerned about those hunters,_ Yellow voiced as she curled up next to Green.

 _Agreed,_ Green commented, _but what else can they do? As long as we stay close to our humans as ‘pets’ I doubt they can do much. Humans don’t like it when hunters try to go after their pets._ She proudly puffed out her chest. _On that note, I’ve figured out how to use Pidge’s laptop thing. It’s fun! There are so many buttons to hit._

Red tuned out the chatter as she let her head drop to the floor and stared at Keith across the room. The boy shook his head and jumped slightly as he saw Red looking at him, before abruptly turning his gaze back to the others.

Red sighed. One thing was certain, Red sincerely doubted she and Keith were going to be able to bond as fast as the others did. Frankly, she wasn’t certain either of them wanted to.

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Nyma cursed as she crumpled up the map and tossed it at the wall of their cabin. “Those stupid cats! I can’t believe we still haven’t found them.”

Rolo shook his head as he went to retrieve the map. “Take it easy, darlin’, we’ve been through five maps as is.”

He smoothed out the crease and set it on the table before return to the woodstove. “Now excuse me, I got to make certain our beans don’t burn.”

Nyma stuck out her tongue in disgust as she plunked her feet on the table. “I’m sick of cheap camp food, and I’m sick of being stuck in these woods.”

Rolo gave a snort. “Preaching to the choir, sweetheart, but if we want to get paid we can’t go back empty handed.”

Nyma snorted as she turned her displeasure to the small cage that sat in the corner. “We do have those weird fluffballs to sell.”

Rolo glanced over to where a tiny mound of fluff balls were sleeping on top of each other. Neither of them had been able to figure out what exactly they were. They were the size of mice, but with the long ears they almost seemed like rabbits. Rolo checked his animal guide books, but so far he hadn’t been able to find anything that resembled the creatures.

Whatever they were, he and Nyma had been able to catch a few in their traps while hunting for the cats. It was still better than nothing he supposed.

“There’s that,” Rolo admitted. They could probably find a collector that bought weird animals as pets. “However, it still wouldn’t compare to the cash we would get for getting those cats.”

Nyma huffed. “Yeah, I know, but can I at least dream-”

A beeping echoed throughout the cabin. Both of their foreheads sweated as they locked their eyes on the vibrating phone sitting on the table. Only THAT man had their current number. It couldn’t be anyone else.

Rolo gulped and pointed with his wooden spoon. “You talk to him?”

Nyma gapped. “Me?”

“I talked to him last time, it’s your turn,” Rolo quipped. “Besides, he likes you better.”

Alright, he was lying, but he was not answering that phone if he could help it. That man could be a terror if he wasn’t happy, and Rolo only saw fury as the reaction once he was informed of their update.

Nyma gripped the edge of the table and tried to lock into a staring contest, but briskly conceded as the phone went into its tenth ring. 

“Alright, alright, I’ll get it!” she snapped and snatched the phone up.

Rolo removed the pot off the stove as Nyma cleared her throat and answered.

“Hello, Sir,” she greeted and her shoulders went tense. “Yes, sorry about the wait..um, Rolo had left the phone in the truck you see...” 

Her fake smile went slack. “No, no, right of course you don’t want to hear about that...Have we found the cats?”

Rolo’s neck went stiff as Nyma stood up and started to pace. “Well, Sir, we’re trying but these are very tricky animals...Yes, I know it’s been taking far longer than what we promised, but we never encountered animals like these-”

A deep voice shouted and Nyma had to yank it from her ears. Rolo cringed, feeling like his own ears were ringing. 

“Yes, Sir, I know,” Nyma stammered as she forced the phone back on her ear. “But if you’ll just...What?! No, Sir, we’ll get them I swear! If you’ll just…” 

She went quiet and straightened her posture like she was a misbehaving child talking to a principal. “I understand, Sir. Thank you, Sir.”

Once Nyma had safely hung up, she cursed and looked tempted to fling the cell phone against the wall. “Great, just great!”

Rolo leaned over the table as he held his breath. “What did ‘Mister Cheerful’ say?”

“Two weeks,” Nyma hissed. “We have TWO WEEKS to finish this job, and if we don’t have anything by then, we’re fired and will get no payment what so ever.”

Rolo sighed as he slumped. “Fantastic! We’re almost broke. If we don’t get that payment, we’ll probably be eating nothing but beans for the next month.”

“You don’t think I know that?” Nyma snapped and reached for the map. “I don’t care what it takes, but we are going to get those stupid furballs.”

Rolo shook his head. “Worse case, if we catch them and he doesn’t want them we could turn them into fur coats.”

“Don’t temp me, Rolo,” Nyma hissed.

Rolo gave half a smirk as he went back to the stove. Those beans weren’t going to cook themselves.


	8. Chapter 8

It was a long day for Keith. Eventually, it was time for Pidge, Hunk, and Lance to head home with their cats. Coran offered to give them all a ride to save Shiro the trip, and before long the two of them were left alone with both Black and Red.

“Soo,” Keith asked as he had a stare off with Red, “what am I supposed to do with her?”

Shiro offered a smile as he filled two bowls with cat food and set them on the floor. “You don’t really have to do anything. You can play with her, or just leave her be.”

Keith mulled over his options in his head, but when Red locked her gaze upon him, it made him briefly wonder if this was what it felt like to be a mouse, and he knew what choice to make.

“I’m going to draw,” he reached for his pencil and sketchbook. “I doubt she wants to play.”

“That’s fine,” Shiro wiped his hands. “I’ll give a shout when I need a hand with dinner.”

Keith nodded, knowing if he didn’t help, Shiro was probably going to burn their food again. Yet, as he stepped out of the kitchen, he heard footsteps and turned around. Red stood there, watching him with that judging gaze.

Keith tried to ignore her as he went to sit in a chair, but Red followed and sat on the armrest. He tried to block her stare as he sketched, but he still felt her gaze. He then gave up and instead moved to the little book nook in the corner, but Red trailed after him and began to poke at his page. Keith growled as he held his sketchbook to his chest and made one last move to sit on the last step on the stairway, except Red went there too.

“Arrg! Shiro, she keeps following me!” Keith yelled.

Shiro laughed as he poked his head out with Black at his heels. “Cats will do that sometimes; you’ll get use to it.”

Keith grumbled as Red pawed at the pencil in his hand. “I will never get use to this,” he vowed under his breath.

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In spite of Keith’s best efforts, Red continued to be a second shadow and followed after him for the rest of the evening. Keith had half expected her to also crawl into bed when it was time for him to go to sleep, but she shocked him and instead curled up in the laundry hamper.

Keith sighed as Red peeked her head out. “You are weird,” he muttered and pulled the blankets over himself. The cat meowed at him as he shut his eyes, and it didn’t take long for sleep to claim him.

He dreamt of his mother. Keith walked along beside her and held her hand like when he was little. She smiled at him and kneeled to kiss his forehead, but just as her lips touched him, she vanished like a puff of smoke.

“Mom?!” Keith yelled in the dream and started to run down a dark hallways, but there was no sign of her. There were doors to other rooms and Keith checked, and checked, but he didn’t find her. He didn’t find anyone.

“Mom?” Keith called. “Shiro?! Someone?! Anyone?!”

No one came. Keith swallowed as he sat down and hugged his knees to his chest. 

He was alone. He didn’t want to be alone.

Keith sprang up in bed with a gasp and instantly scrubbed at the tears building in his eyes.

“Hate that dream,” he grumbled under his breath. “Hate it, hate it.”

It had been ages since he had had that nightmare. It had been quite common after he came to live with Shiro, but it had been months since the last time. Keith fought the urge to sob as he buried his face into his hands. His heart was still pounding.

Gradually, his eyes lingered to the door. Should..I go get Shiro? 

Shiro had always insist Keith could wake him up if he needed him, and Keith had done so quite a number of times after he had a nightmare. However, Shiro had been worn out from working on the roof. He desperately needed a full night sleep.

Keith’s shoulders slumped, and he rested his forehead onto his knees. He could read, but he didn’t feel like reading; he didn’t feel like sketching either. What else could he do besides sitting here in the dark?

“Meow?”

Keith lifted his gaze and saw Red studying him from the foot of the bed. He found himself sitting up and realized he had forgot the cat was even in the room.

“Um...I’m fine,” Keith said as he rubbed his neck, feeling rather silly explaining it to a cat. “Just..a bad dream.”

Red’s eyes narrowed as her ears flicked back.

“You...um can go back to sleep,” Keith said as he pointed to the floor, “I won’t bug you-”

Red trotted up the bed and then promptly sat in his lap. Keith’s whole body went still, baffled on what he should do. “Um..do you need food or something?” he asked.

Red tilted her head, then to Keith’s shock, started to nuzzle his neck. He then heard her let loose a soft purr, and she proceed to almost wrap her whole body around the boy. Confused, Keith tried to pry Red off, but the cat refused to budge and only became more determined.

“What are you doing?” Keith muttered. 

She got no reply. Then the purring seemed to get louder and caused a pleasant humm in the air. Keith’s eyes grew heavy and without a second thought he lay back down and found himself hugging Red like a stuff animal.

“You’re really warm,” he said, his voice thick with sleep; he wasn’t sure why he only noticed it now. 

Red licked his hair with her rough tongue, but Keith found he didn’t mind it as his eyes shut. He still heard the constant purring, and could even feel Red’s heart beating. It was strangely comforting as he fell asleep.

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Red continuing the purring until she was certain Keith was deep in sleep. Technically, she was free to move, but with the boy’s arms wrapped around her, she was afraid it would only wake him up again, so she remained still. 

The door creaked and Red cocked her head to see Black stepping in. She stared at both her and Keith, and flicked her tail.

 _I sensed magic,_ Black said.

 _It was me,_ Red growled back. _Keith had a bad dream so I comforted him with a sleep song._

Black’s eyes widened slightly. _You performed a sleep song?_

_It’s not that shocking._

_It is for you,_ Black argued.

Red knew she was right. Sleep songs were tricky since it was required to have a close contact with the target and it took several minutes for it to take effect. Her other sisters had sung them when they found injured animals, but Red had never tried it. Red had never been the maternal type... and yet, she found herself singing it without a second thought.

 _He was upset and scared,_ Red growled. _I..couldn’t leave him like that._

She expected Black to tease her, but her eldest sister said nothing. Truth be told, she seemed rather pleased. _I’m heading back to bed,_ Black told her. _Good night, sister._

Red watched her go before snuggling her face back into Keith’s chest and listened to his soft snores. Perhaps there was more to this human bonding experience than she thought.

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Shiro desired more sleep, but his alarm clock had other ideas. He lazily reached out from under the blanket and hit the clock to turn off the buzzing alarm. A loud yawn was let loose as he forced himself to sit up.

He casually glanced to the furry warm body that was currently sleeping against his side. “Morning, Black,” Shiro said with a yawn as he poked her. “Sleep well?”

Black raised her head and stared at him with sleepy eyes like he was insane for getting up. Shiro shrugged in response.

“Can’t be helped,” Shiro said as he proceeded to yank off the covers. “Coran is coming over early today to help with the roof... and I’m feeling the need to explain this to a cat.”

Black merely meowed in response as Shiro laughed at himself. “Wow, never figured myself a cat person,” he muttered as he reached for his prosthetic and fastened it on.

Shiro had always been more of a dog person growing up, but there was something about Black that just clicked with him. He didn’t mind that she seemed to prefer to sleep with him in his bed, even if she could be a bed hog at times. It did feel nice to have a furry warm body next to him.

He reached for his robe as his thoughts drifted to his cousin across the room. “I wonder how Keith made out,” he muttered and went to investigate.

Keith didn’t exactly seemed thrilled with the idea of having a pet, despite Shiro knowing the boy’s deep dark secret that he did love animals. Yet, having a pet was often a good way for a kid to come out of their shell, and Keith probably needed a small companion that could lend an ear to his troubles.

 _Although,_ Shiro thought as he walked into the hallway with Black following, _if Keith is still hating the idea of a cat, maybe I should just take the cat to the animal shelter._

Shiro opened the door to Keith’s room, looked in, and suddenly all the lingering doubts he had evaporated.

Keith was still sound asleep, and so was Red...who Keith was cuddling next to his chest. Shiro covered his mouth to hold back a chuckle in fear of waking up the two of them. 

Shiro felt Black try to poke her way into the room, but he blocked her with his foot as he slowly backtracked, then quietly shut the door. He didn’t know what exactly happened, but for Keith to willingly cuddle like that was a positive sign that keeping Red had been a wise move.

Shiro was half tempted to grab his phone and steal a picture, but he tossed the idea aside for now. Knowing Keith, he would be self conscious about the whole thing. Better to let him ease into it. 

_With that said, if they’re still doing it a week from now, I’m so getting a picture,_ Shiro thought as he headed down the stairs.

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“So, how was your first night with Red?” Lance asked from his seat on the porch. “Did you guys have fun?”

Keith paused in shaking the dice he held in his hands and suddenly became very focused on the board game in front of him. “It was...interesting.”

Lance raised a skeptical eyebrow as he leaned back. “What kind of answer is that?”

“Lance, leave him alone,” Pidge muttered as she crossed her legs. “It was just his first night with a cat? What do you expect to happen?”

Keith made certain to keep silent and concentrate on rolling the dice, then moving his piece six places.

It wasn’t as if Keith was embarrassed that he woke up to find Red cuddling with him, but he did feared he might let slip the nightmare he had. He did NOT want to go into that territory with Pidge, Lance, and Hunk.

Although, if Keith was honest, the whole thing hadn’t been a bad experience. After Red purred him to sleep, he didn’t have any more bad dreams and it was oddly nice to feel Red’s heartbeat. It was hard to describe, but it definitely made Keith think that perhaps having a cat wasn’t a bad thing.

Even if Red was a grouch.

He stole a glance over to Red, who was currently trying to chase Green and Yellow. Black was watching them all from her seat near the door, while Blue was poking her nose into one of the far corners.

The cats had ended up tagging along again, much to Keith’s confusion. What was it about this place that they liked so much? Keith was beginning to wonder if Pidge’s theory of them all being from the same litter was true.

Keith brushed the thoughts aside as he looked to Hunk. “Um...thanks for bringing this game over,” Keith said, praying this would change the topic entirely.

Hunk shrugged as Blue wiggled behind him to get to Lance. “No problem, my sisters and I play it all the time.” He cupped a hand over his mouth as he gestured to Lance. “Will warn you, Lance always insist on doing a victory dance if he wins.”

“I heard that,” Lance quipped as he hotly crossed his arms. “And I have awesome dance moves.”

Keith rolled his eyes as Hunk went to take his turn and he gazed up at the roof. “I wonder how long it’s going to take for them to fix it?”

“Coran thought they would just needed another day,” Pidge fiddled with her shoelace, “that is, if they don’t find any other issues.”

Lance pulled Blue into his lap as he looked to Keith. “Reminds me, my dad said to tell Shiro that as a ‘thanks’ for taking me off their hands two days in a row, he would help fix that leak in your bathroom sink.”

Hunk nodded as he leaned back. “On that note, my dad said he wanted to give a hand fixing up this porch.” He patted the wood. “He knows it’s super old, and you need to replace the wood.”

Keith sighed as he slumped his head. They had gotten so many offers from neighbors to help out with the repairs that Keith was beginning to lose count. “I swear, I don’t get why Shiro doesn’t just tear the whole place down and build a new place.” He waved his arm around. “This whole place would probably fall apart if you sneezed at it?”

“Some people like a challenge?” Pidge snickered. “And, come on, it isn’t that bad. You could always-”

Growls made all four kids jump in the air. They whirled around to see both Red and Green rapidly chasing after something that ducked under the bench.

“Geez, that nearly gave me a heart attack,” Hunk muttered. “What did they do? Find a squirrel?”

Keith sighed as he rose and went to investigate. “If it is, I better rescue it.”

“Aw, you don’t want them to bring us a gift?” Pidge said in a teasing tone.

“Not particularly,” Keith tried to shove Red and Green aside, but the pair refused to budge and dug their claws in.

Keith grunted as he wiggled his way through. “Come on, you two,” Keith said as he managed to break through and peek under the bench. “Leave the poor squirrel alone-”

A white blur rushed out at him. Keith yelped as he fell back and felt tiny paws scurry over his chest. The white blur ran over the game board, scattering the playing pieces left and right as the other kids jumped.

Hunk yelped and toppled onto Yellow as Lance and Pidge staggered back. The white blur had froze on top of the porch steps. It was tiny, no bigger than a mouse but looked like a giant fluff ball with long ears and two little dotted eyes blinked at him. If there was a mouth, Keith didn’t see it, but he saw two very tiny balls of white fluff underneath, which Keith could only assume were its feet.

The white fluff ball didn’t dare to move, and to Keith’s shock all the cats stared, mesmerized by it. 

The boy looked to his friends for an explanation. “What..is that?” 

Lance opened and shut his mouth as he held Blue back. “I want to say a rabbit, but I’ve never seen a rabbit that tiny.” He slowly reached into his back pocket. “Whatever it is, I’ve got to take a photo with my phone.”

“Maybe it’s a baby rabbit?” Hunk sat up and patted Yellow.

“I’ve seen baby rabbits,” Pigde stated in a stunned tone. “That is definitely NOT a baby rabbit.”

Whatever the creature was it blinked at the children and then abruptly hopped down the stairs.

“Hey wait!” Lance yelled as he began to chase after it with Blue still in his arms.

“Lance, why are you chasing it?!” Keith exclaimed.

“Because maybe we just discovered a whole new breed of rabbit!” Lance explained.

The tiny animal landed on the grass and didn’t waste a second to scurry off into the woods.

“Lance it’s going into the woods!” Hunk declared.

“Then hurry up,” Lance cried as he didn’t bother to look back. “I got to take a picture before we lose it!”

“LANCE!” Keith snarled, but he was almost gone from sight. “Arrrg, guys, come on! We better go after him before he gets lost!”

Keith hit the ground running as Pidge yanked hard on Hunk’s arm, and they gave chase.

Left on the porch were the remaining four cats, and Black growled frantically at Red and Green.

 _Why were you two chasing it in broad daylight?!_ she growled.

 _We were trying to catch it before the children saw it!_ Red snapped.

 _Well, clearly you didn’t succeeded!_ Yellow growled as she paced back and forth. _What should we do?!_

_They won’t catch it,_ Green voiced, _but they may stay out there until they find it._

 _And get lost in the process,_ Black hissed as she jumped onto the railing. _I’m getting Shiro; you three go after them._

_At least Blue is with them,_ Yellow replied as she leapt off the porch.

 _Four kids is still a lot for one cat to handle,_ Red took off running. _Come on! They’re already too far ahead!_

Green and Yellow gave quick nods as they swiftly caught up to Red. Black didn’t bother to watch before racing off to fetch Shiro.

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Keith peeked under a blueberry bush and shook his head. “Not here,” he shouted.

“Or here,” Hunk said as he poked his head out from behind a bush. “Although, these blue berries look ready to pick.”

“Fill your stomach later,” Lance shouted as he pushed aside a cluster of low hanging branches. “We’ve got a new rabbit to find.”

“For the last time, it was NOT a rabbit,” Pidge declared as she leaned against the tree. “Besides, we’ve been searching for 20 minutes, and it could be anywhere by now.”

Hunk glanced up into the branches of an oak tree. “Unless it’s a tree climbing rabbit.”

“Hunk, you’re not helping.”

Keith frowned as he tucked his hands into his pockets and glanced down to Blue. She was still standing next to Lance and still tugging at his shoelace like she had been doing since they got into the woods.

“I don’t think Blue wants us out here,” he said as he kneeled. “She looks nervous.”

Lance paused in his searching and looked to Blue. “Yeah, which is weird, because she normally loves going into the woods.”

“Maybe she doesn’t like the rabbit,” Hunk said with a shrug.

“Hunk, it wasn’t a rabbit!’ Pidge snapped and rubbed her eyes. “Oh, nevermind.”

Keith was about to step towards Pidge, but felt a hard tap on his leg. He glanced down and saw Red glaring at him as she sat at his feet. He then heard a few more meows and saw Green and Yellow were also giving their owners the same dirty looks.

Keith raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Oookay, anyone else sensing the vibe the cats do not want us out here?”

“Just a tad,” Hunk said thoughtfully as he scooped up Yellow. “Geez, Girl, you usually don’t care where I am.”

Keith glanced over his shoulder to where they came. “We should probably get back. Shiro will be mad that we left without telling him.”

Lance’s shoulders slumped as he rubbed his neck. “Yeah...I guess,” he grumbled and kicked a rock. “But, still, it would have been so cool to get a photo of that thing. We could have been famous.”

“For finding a new rabbit?” Hunk asked.

“Hey, you never know,” Lance argued. “A lot of people love finding out about strange animals.”

“Can’t argue with that logic, kid.”

All the children’s heads turned as Rolo appeared from behind a tree. He shot them a lazy smile as he adjusted the large pack on his back. “At least, that’s always been my experience,” he continued.

Nyma appeared and waved at them. “Hey, how is it going?”

“Alright,” Keith said, but was cut off by constant growls. Red was currently standing in front of Keith, hissing madly like she was trying to scare off a bear. 

Yellow, Green and even Blue had similar reactions as they stuck close to their kids. Although, Keith noted that Hunk himself looked tempted to join in the hissing with the glare he gave them.

Nyma looked taken back by the cats and ducked behind Rolo. “Geez, what’s with those cats?”

“Sorry,” Keith scooped Red up into his arms. “They don’t like strangers, I guess.”

“Yeah, and they’ve been kind of antsy since we got out here,” Lance chimed in, then looked to Nyma and Rolo with hope in his eyes. “Hey, have you two seen a real tiny bunny run by? We saw our cats chasing one, and I wanted to take a picture of it.” 

Rolo looked to be half listening as he locked eyes with Keith. “Sorry, can’t say I have,” he said as he gradually stepped towards Keith. “Interesting cat you got there, Kid. Ya had her long?”

Red snarled and tried to swipe her claws at Rolo, but Keith swiftly held her paw back. “Whoa, easy! What’s gotten into you, Red?” He then looked to Rolo. “And, no, I just got her yesterday.”

“Rrreeaalllyyy?” Rolo said as he sucked air between his teeth and crossed his arms. “And where exactly did you get her?”

“And how exactly is that your business?” 

All heads turned as Shrio appeared up the path. He locked eyes with Rolo, and Black stood in front of him with the same challenged look.

“Hey, Shiro,” Rolo greeted with a grin. “Nice to see you again.”

Shiro didn’t return the warm greeting as he gently pushed Keith behind him and kept his scowl at Rolo. 

“What exactly are you doing here?” he asked and Black gave a growl from behind him.

“Oh, you know, just doing some data gathering on the local critters,” Nyma said with a sweet smile as she locked eyes with Black. “Is that one also yours?”

Black hissed again before Shiro kneeled to pat her head. “She is, and again I don’t see how it’s your business.”

Keith narrowed his eyes. What was with Shiro? Did he not like these guys either?

Rolo didn’t show any offense as he held up his hands. “No need to be hostile, I was just curious,” he patted Nyma’s shoulder. “With that said, we better get going. We got a lot of... planning to do. Don’t we, sweetheart?”

“Indeed,” Nyma offered a sweet smile and gave a small wave. “See you all later.”

Everyone watched them silently wander back into the woods, although Lance took a few steps forwards. 

“She’s really pretty,” he said with a slight blush.

Pidge snorted in disgust. “Really, Lance?”

“What? she is,” he puffed up his chest.

“Okay, guys,” Shiro declared in a no-nonsense tone. “Mind explaining why you all ran off without telling me?” 

Keith cringed as he dug his shoe on the ground. “Sorry...but we saw a weird rabbit and went after it?”

Lance cringed and raised a hand. “To be fair, I ran after it, and they came after me.”

“Animal? Nevermind,”Shiro shook his head. “I don’t mind you going into the woods, but you’ve got to tell me first.”

Keith frowned and was about to argue he’d been in the woods before, until he recalled Shiro knew he was in the woods, and he hadn’t gone very far when he had bumped into Lance and Hunk.

“Yeah, okay, sorry,” Keith muttered softly.

Shiro smiled as he ruffled Keith’s hair and glanced to the others. “Let’s head back, I don’t want Coran worrying something bad happened.”

Pidge nodded as she bend to pick up Green, then paused. “Shiro, how did you know we were out here?”

Shiro turned and pointed. “Black told me,” he explained, “she kept meowing at me until I followed her, and I found you guys.”

Keith’s forehead puckered as he looked to Black, but decided to keep his thoughts to himself for the moment. The kids followed Shiro down the path as the cats kept close to their owners. Keith stole one more glance to where Nyma and Rolo had gone before returning his attention ahead.

He couldn’t exactly explain it, but he felt like he like there was more going on here than any of them knew.

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Rolo and Nyma said nothing until they reached the river bank and Rolo sat down. “It’s them,” he said as he sat back. “Those little furballs have been hiding out as pets.”

Nyma said nothing until she sat next to him and tossed a pebble into the water. “You certain?”

“It might have been dark, but that black and red cat are definitely the ones we almost caught the other night,” Rolo said as he tipped his hat back. “Which makes this way more complicated.”

“Does it?” Nyma asked. “We know where the cats are, and I’m betting those other cats we saw are the missing ones that vanished on us. We just have to snag them.”

Rolo shook his head. “As far as Shiro as those kids are concerned those critters are their pets. We’ll get a lot of unwanted questions if they catch us.”

“So, they won’t catch us,” Nyma explained as she tossed in another pebble. “We’ll steal one when no one is looking, bring it to the Big Man and snag the others later.”

Rolo frowned. “You think he’ll be happy with just one? He made it clear he needed all five.”

“He said to bring him results within two weeks,” Nyma stated, “he never said how big.” She crossed her legs. “If we can get one cat to him we could probably barter more time to steal the others.”

Rolo sighed, but gave a nod. “Alright, but how exactly do we steal the first one?”

Nyma grinned wickedly. “The kid with the blue cat seemed like an easy target, and he said their cats chased after those weird bunnies, right?”

“Yeah,” Rolo said with a shrug. “So?”

Nyma smirked. “I already got an idea.”

Rolo gave a whistle as he prepared to listen. Knowing Nyma, those cats and kids weren’t going to know what hit them.


	9. Chapter 9

The rest of the day was spent much more quietly. No one wanted to annoy Shiro again, especially Keith. Lance was still tempted in finding that weird creature, but this time they decide to just search outside the house.

They poked their heads under the porch, beneath the stairs, and even in the old barn, but didn’t find any sign of it. Eventually, they got bored, and it was getting too hot to search. Lance suggested going for a swim in the pond behind his house, but no one was in the mood to walk all the way there.

So, Keith located the sprinkler and turned it on to cool themselves off. Lance and Blue were the first ones to dive right in to get wet. Blue was practically purring as she let herself get soaked.

She was a very odd cat. Although, Keith had to admit it was good to get wet and wash off the sweat. Although, Red didn’t agreed and stayed as far away from the sprinkler as possible. She even hissed when Blue shook off the water and got a few drops on her. Keith had a feeling giving the cat a bath was not going to be fun.

The other cats didn’t mind as much, but none of them were dying to dive in either. Eventually, Keith decided he was long overdue for a drink and told the others he would be back in a second. 

Red followed and dashed inside, probably thrilled to be away from the sprinkler. Keith entered the kitchen and found both Shiro and Coran sitting at the table. Keith tilted his head as he saw what they were drinking.

“Coran, are you drinking tea?” he asked.

Coran held up his steaming cup. “Indeed I am,” he said as he took a sip. “Ah, nothing like a hot cup of tea to refresh the senses.”

“But it’s scorching outside,” Keith argued. “Why would you drink something hot?”

Shiro held up his hand as he sipped his iced filled water. “Don’t bother, Keith. I’ve already tried for the last 10 minutes. Just give up.”

Black poked her head from under Shiro’s chair and meowed in agreement.

Keith looked to Red, shrugged, then went to the fridge to get a drink of soda. “Are you guys almost done with the roof?”

“Just about,” Coran said gleefully. “We just need one more patch up, and we should be done. How are you lot doing outside?”

Keith shrugged as he took a sip. “Fine, I just came in to get a drink.”

Coran twirled his mustache as he rose and reached into the fridge for a few extra can. “I best go and give these to the others. Pidge has a habit of not remembering to rehydrate herself in this weather.”

“Do you want a hand?” Shiro began to stand up.

“No, no, I’ve got this,” Coran juggled the drinks. “Believe me, this isn’t the first time I’ve done this. Be back in a tic!”

Keith moved over to the table as he watched Coran leave through the door. “Glad the roof is almost done?”

Shiro leaned back in his chair. “Yes, be nice not to have to worry about a leaky roof, at least for awhile.”

Keith smiled, but his eyes drifted over to Red and the questions he had earlier returned.

“Shiro...you don’t like Nyma and Rolo, do you?” he asked.

Shiro’s smile dropped as he lowered his drink on the table. His eyes narrowed like he was debating if he should tell Keith. “No..I don’t.”

“Why?” Keith asked. “Hunk doesn’t like them either, he thinks they’re suspicious.”

Shiro chuckled. “Hunk’s a smart kid,” he then took in a deep breath as he rested his arms on the table. “I had a talk with Allura and we both suspect they’re up to no good.”

Keith frowned. “How so?”

“Did I ever tell you the old story of the spring of Voltron?” Shiro lifted his prosthetic hand. 

“No, but Coran did,” Keith took another sip. “He told me when we took Black to get checked out.”

Shiro nodded. “Then, I’m assuming you know the part about people believing those cats are still around.”

“Yes,” Keith said, “but what does that…” He trailed off as it clicked in his brain. “Wait, you think Rolo and Nyma are looking for them?”

Shiro folded his hands on the table. “I don’t know for certain, but Allura is at least concerned, and it’s not the first time someone has come hunting for them.”

Keith found his body tensing for some reason. “If they found them, do you think they would hurt them?”

“Well, first of all, it’s just a story, it’s not real,” Shiro said firmly, then his eyes hardened. “With that said, I am worried what they would do if they did believe they found the right cats.”

“And that’s why you didn’t like them asking about Red and Black?” Keith asked.

“Yeah,” Shiro said after blowing the air of his cheeks. “They seem more curious about them than I felt they should be.

Keith found himself looking over to Red and Black on the floor as a dozen different thoughts occurred to him. All the cats suddenly appeared wanting a home. Rolo and Nyma had been looking for those magic cats for awhile. Rolo seemed awfully interested in discussing where Keith and Shiro got their cats.

What if those special cats decided they needed a place to hide from Rolo and Nyma? What if…

Keith’s eyes widened as he found himself staring at Red. No way..what if Red..

“Keith?” Shiro spoke. “You okay, Buddy?”

Keith tossed the thoughts aside as he cleared his throat. “Uh..yeah, great, just thinking.”

Shiro rubbed the back of his head as he forced a smile. “Sorry, you shouldn’t be worrying about this stuff. It’s just all nonsense.” He patted Keith’s head. “Just, if you see those two near our place, let me, Allura, or Coran know, okay?”

Keith opened his mouth, tempted to express what he was thinking, but instead shut it. There was no point saying it now. He had no real proof, and Shiro wouldn’t believe it anyway. At least, not today.

“Sure, I can do that.” Keith replied.

Shiro smiled as pulled him into a hug. “Alright, so how about we go out and join in the fun?” Shiro asked as he released him. “Frankly, I feel like I could use a run in the sprinkler too.”

Keith shrugged. “Sure, but you might have to fight Blue for it. She’s super attached to the thing.”

Shiro smiled as he proceeded to head to the door. Keith looked over his shoulder as the cats followed.

He wasn’t exactly sure what the cats were, but either way, they had to keep Rolo and Nyma away from them.

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A couple of days passed and there was no sign of either Nyma or Rolo. Keith didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. It either meant that they decided to give up, or they were possibly working even harder.

Keith hated waiting around for something to happened, it made him feel like he was sitting on his hands, but there was nothing else he could do. He tried to get some answers from Red and Black, but whenever he asked them a question, all the got was either a meow, or they completely ignored him.

Keith eventually had to conclude that even if his theory was right, the cats weren’t going to admit it, at least not yet.

On the third day, Allura and Coran appeared at their doorstep with Pidge in tow. Each of them wore a backpack, hiking boots, and a wide brim hat Keith had only see in Indiana Jones movies.

Keith and Shiro exchanged baffled expressions before Shiro asked “Um..is there a reason you’re in that get up?”

“We’re going for a hike in the woods,” Allura explained. “We’re having both Hunk and Lance join us and thought you two would like in on the fun.”

Keith frowned as he looked to Pidge who looked like she had swallowed a lemon and was told she had to eat three more of them. 

“Don’t care for hiking?” he asked.

“No,” Pidge replied with a sigh and counted on her fingers. “Avoiding poison ivy, bug bites and trying not to get sunburned are not my ideas of fun.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “So, why are you going?”

“They’re making me,,” Pidge grumbled as Allura patted her head.

“Oh, it will be good for you to get some exercise,” she smiled. “And Green will be tagging along.”

As if on cue, Green poked her head between Pidge’s legs and meowed, looking ready to play.

Shiro chuckled. “She seems happy.”

Pidge gave her cat a sour look. “That’s because Green has weird taste in fun.”

The adults chuckled as Keith narrowed his eyes. “You’re taking your cat along? Is that such a good idea?”

“Didn’t plan on it, but she was rather insistent,” Coran crossed his arms. “Frankly, we’ve been having a hard time prying Green away from Pidge lately.”

 _Probably because she’s worried what Rolo and Nyma might do,_ Keith thought, but forgot it as Shiro touched his shoulder.

“What do you say, kiddo?” Shiro asked as he pointed. “Up for a hike?”

Keith wasn’t as certain until he glanced to Red who was twitching her ears and watching with hopeful eyes. 

_She wants to go, doesn’t she?_ Keith thought and found himself nodding.

“Sure, sounds fun,” he replied.

Pidge’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “I take it back, you also have weird taste in fun.”

Keith smirked and decided to take that as a compliment.

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It didn’t take long to collect Lance and Hunk, and just as Keith expected, their cats insisted on tagging along as well.

They went up a trail Keith hadn’t seen before. There were a patches of wild flowers and tree roots crisscrossing over the path. He could smell the dirt and rain from earlier that morning, and he heard birds chirping at them from nearby trees.

It was peaceful and Keith liked it.

The cats seemed to enjoy it too. They kept ducking in and around the trees, and just when Keith was afraid they’d lost sight of them, they would pop out again to return to the trail. Keith bet they knew these woods better than anyone, but he kept that thought to himself.

He breathed in a the fresh air as he walked up to the front where Allura was. “Where does this trail go?” Keith asked.

Allura smiled as she pointed. “There’s a point up ahead where it breaks into two paths. If we take the path on the right, it’ll lead to the road, but if we take the path on the left, we’ll end up at the veterinary clinic.” She gave a laugh. “Although it is a much shorter trail.”

“I vote for that one,” Pidge sat on a stump to massage her ankles. “My legs are killing me already.”

“Same,” Hunk huffed as he took a seat next to Pidge. “I need a break.”

Shiro chuckled as he took up the rear and kneeled to give Black a pat. “We have been walking for awhile, probably a good chance for a rest.”

“Aw, but I want to keep going,” Lance dangled a tree branch in front of Blue. “I want to see if I can see one of those bunnies again.”

Keith sighed as he sat on the grass and Red joined him. “You still haven’t given up on that?”

“Why would I?” Lance shrugged. “It’s a major discovery. Right, Allura?”

“It certainly would be,” Allura reached into her bag for a bottle of water. “Although, I imagine what you five saw was simply a mouse.”

“It wasn’t a mouse,” Pidge took a big gulp of water. “I had a clear look at it, trust me on this.”

“In any case,” Coran used a log to stretched his legs. “This hike is a good workout. Feels good for the soul too.”

“I have to agree with you,” Shiro sat next to Keith. “Uncle Yoshi use to take your mom and I hiking all the time as kids. She always loved it too.”

Keith looked up as he patted Red. “She did?”

Shiro nodded as he crossed his arms. “Always had a sketchbook ready to try to draw any animal we saw. Sound familiar?”

Keith blushed as he thought of the sketchbook he had put into his backpack before he left. “Just..a little,” he muttered.

Shiro smiled and patted his head. “Going on a hike was a great idea, Coran.”

“I agree,” Coran rotated his shoulders as Green sniffed his boots. “Wish I could take the credit for it.”

Allura tiled her head in confusion. “What do you mean? You’re the one that suggested it this morning.”

Coran gave a sheepish smiled. “Yes, but I must admit I got the idea after that chat with that chap Rolo this morning.”

Keith froze and looked to him in alarm. “What?” he asked.

From his gaze, he noticed the others were looking on with interest as well.

“I was buying groceries when I bumped into him,” Coran explained, “then somehow we began discussing the different trails, and I realized it had been ages since we’ve been on a proper hike. So, I figured why not?”

“Coran,” Allura said cooly. “I rather wished you had mentioned it was Rolo who had suggested it.”

Coran chuckled nervously. “Yes, well, to be fair Allura, I know you don’t care for him or Nyma, and I was afraid you wouldn’t come if I said his name.”

Allura looked tempted to argue, but frowned as she crossed her arms. “I suppose you have a point.”

“Still,” Shiro said in a firm tone, “they are suspicious characters. I would be careful on what ‘ideas’ you get from them.”

Hunk had been holding a scowl for the entire talk, but upon Shiro speaking, relief crossed over his face, and Yellow flicked her tail. “Ha! See, I knew it wasn’t just me.”

“Oh, come on, not this again,” said Pidge grumbled as Green climbed into her lap.

“I’m telling you, they’re up to something,” Hunk insisted.

“Now, now, we don’t want to be throwing accusations around,” Allura smiled. “While some of us have our suspicions, they have yet to do anything wrong.”

Keith’s thoughts drifted back to the other day, and he felt Red paw at his arm as he dug his fingers into the grass. “But... they’re after our cats.”

Everyone in the group went silent as they turned to Keith. “What did you say, buddy?” Shiro asked.

Keith chewed his bottom lip. “I know this will sound crazy, but I think those two want our cats.”

“And why would they want them?” Pidge asked.

Keith rubbed the back of his head. “Because... I think they’re the cats from the story. You know, about the Spring of Voltron?”

Keith fidgeted as everyone stared at him. Coran and Allura exchanged baffled looks, Pidge raised a skeptical eye brown, Hunk blinked in confusion, and Shiro tilted his head. During all of this, all of the cats had become still with their gazes locked onto Keith... except for Blue who seemed to be out of sight.

After a moment, Shiro ruffled his hair and gave a laugh.

“You’ve been reading too many fantasy books lately,” he said.

Keith scowled as Red growled. “I’m dead serious,” he insisted as he rose. “Think about it, all these cats showed up not long after Nyma and Rolo came to these woods, and they were REALLY interested in asking Shiro and I about any animals near our property.”

Hunk raised a hand. “They did seem to want to ask Keith questions about where he and Shiro got their cats?”

Coran shut his eyes in thought. “Well... it does sound suspicious, when you put it that way.”

“It does,” Allura looked to Keith. “I’m doubtful that these are the ‘legendary cats’ from the story, but I do believe Rolo and Nyma are becoming more suspicious.”

“At the very least,” Shiro stood up, “we should head back, and try to find out where exactly these two came from, and what they want.”

Keith let out the breath of air he’d been holding in. They didn’t quite believe his theory, but at least the adults agreed Nyma and Rolo were a concern.

“Um... hate to ask a dumb question,” Hunk said as he rose, “but... where’s Lance?”

Keith was about to say near the bush, except he wasn’t there. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen or heard from him for a few minutes now.

Shiro, Coran, and Allura seemed to reach the same conclusion as they exchanged alarmed looks.

“Lance!” Coran cried out. “Where you, my boy?! Now is not the time to play hide and seek!”

“I bet he thought he spotted another one of those stupid rabbits,” Pidge snapped as she yanked at her hair. “He probably wandered off somewhere.”

“He couldn’t have gotten far,” Shiro said as he placed a hand on Pidge’s shoulder. “We need to stay together though.”

A growl came from Yellow as she pawed at the patch of dirt. Keith and Red moved closer and saw the imprints of a shoe.

“Lance left a footprint at least,” Keith pointed.

Shiro got closer and examined the footprint. “He couldn’t have gotten far.” He looked to Allura and Coran. “Don’t suppose he had a cellphone on him?”

Allura shook his head. “Even if he did the cell reception is very weak in the woods.”

“No cell phone,” Hunk muttered, then his eyes widened. “But we have walkie talkies!”

He instantly brought out his backpack and reached into it. “I forgot Lance made me pack mine before we left.”

“Why?” Keith looked over Hunk’s shoulder.

“He thought it would be fun,” Hunk brought out the walkie talkie. “I just hope he has his on.”

Keith nodded and suddenly felt very relieved Lance had found those things in the first place.


	10. Chapter 10

Not far from them, Blue’s ears twitched as she listened for it again. It had been difficult to hear with all the humans and her sisters around, but now that she was away from them, it was much more clear.

SQUEAK!

Blue heard it again and this time she was able to sense the fear behind the cry. Someone needed assistance.

A rustle came from behind, and Blue turned as Lance appeared and brushed the leaves out of his hair. “There you are!” He bent to scoop her up. “You’ve got to stop wandering off. Let’s get back to the others.”

Blue felt a bit guilty for leading her boy away. She had tried to sneak away, but Lance noticed and had attempted to scoop her up before she could. It was fruitless since she managed to slip away again, but Lance was equally as stubborn as her and followed.

She didn’t have a choice did she? Oh, well, might as well get his help on the matter.

Blue wiggled out of Lance’s arms, but paused a few feet away and beckoned for him to come.

He stared back in confusion, then it seemed to click. “You want me to follow?”

Blue nodded, gleeful he was able to pick up her meaning so fast. Sometimes, she swore they could read each other’s mind.

Lance chewed his lip as he glanced back and looked back to her. “Is it important?”

Blue meowed to confirm “Yes”.

Lance still seemed reluctant, but then his eyes shone with determination. “Alright, but we can’t take too long or the others will worry about us.”

Blue nodded as she began to lead the way. It did take longer than she planned since she had make sure Lance was able to keep up, but she was glad for his company all the same. Blue had felt a connection with the boy the moment she lay eyes on him. They were kindred spirits. She didn’t know how or why, but they were just meant to be together.

The noise grew louder and Lance jumped. 

“What the… did you hear that?” he asked.

Blue didn’t waste a moment as she made her way through foliage and found her target. In a small cage a group of dust bunnies were huddled together. Blue narrowed her eyes.

It wasn’t uncommon for the tiny spirits to wander into the woods, but they rarely ventured far from any houses. What were they doing here?

Her questions were forgotten as Lance crawled on his knees and gasped. “Hey! You found some! This is awesome!” He reached for his phone. “I got to take a photo and...”

Blue cut him off as she placed a paw on his hand. Lance stopped and stared into her pleading eyes. He frowned as he looked to the dust bunnies, who were now backing into a corner.

“You..want to free them don’t you?” he asked.

Blue purred and rubbed her head against his neck. Lance was silent as he patted her. 

“They do look scared don’t they?” he sighed as he put his camera phone on the ground. “Okay, it’s not fun taking a photo of a scared animal anyway.”

Blue growled happily as she stepped aside to give Lance room.

“Alright, let’s see,” he muttered as he rolled up his sleeves jackets. “There’s no padlock, so there’s got to be a latch on this thing.”

Blue sat back and watched her boy go to work. _When I get back, I should tell the others about this. This is very strange-_

Footsteps made her ears twitched. Blue looked behind, and saw nothing. She went to stare back at Lance, but then saw something small and fluffy stick out from underneath the bush. It twitched back and forth like it was taunting at her to catch it.

Curious, Blue crouched low and slowly moved forward to investigate. The white fluff pulled back into the bush. Blue dove it, but saw no sign of the target until she saw it poking out of another bush. Feeling challenged now, Blue darted after it only to miss it again and saw it mocking her from another bush. 

The game happened again and again, until after a few minutes, it dawned on Blue that she was farther away from Lance than she meant to be. She growled and was about to turn back around, but then saw the fluff ball poking out of the bush.

 _One last try,_ Blue swore and without a second thought, Blue dove into it.

Her paws caught it and she saw it was...a puff ball on a piece of string? 

Suddenly, a net was dropped over her. Blue hissed and snarled as she clawed at the net. It did nothing, and to her horror, she felt both the net and herself being lifted.

She dangled as Nyma and Rolo’s faces came into view through the net.

“What did I tell you?” Nyma sneered. “Told you one of those cats would check out those rabbits.”

“I never doubted you,” Rolo chirped as he swung Blue over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get this furball out of here before they realize she’s missing.”

Blue growled as she was carried off, before longingly looking in the direction Lance was in.

 _Help,_ she thought desperately. _I need help._

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“Aannnddd got it!” Lance cheered as he opened the latch. “Alright, little guys, you’re free as birds... or bunnies, I guess in this case.”

The white fluffballs hopped out, but to Lance’s amazement, they didn’t instantly run off. They sat there staring at him with their small black eyes.

“Um..” Lance scratched his head. “Was there something else you need...”

The bunnies cut him off by nuzzling their heads against his legs. 

“Hey, that tickles!” Lance giggled. “Blue, check it out! They like me!”

He expected to see Blue practically laughing at him, but she was gone.

“Blue?” Lance sighed as he stood, and the bunnies hopped aside. “Blue! Where are you? You can’t run off...”

A jolt of something struck him. Lance staggered as a wave of fear and panic washed over him.

_Help! Help me!_

Lance steadied himself as words passed through his head. “Whoa,” he breathed. “That was weird.” 

He looked around, but didn’t seen anyone. The voice had been so clear, almost like someone was crying out for him.

Another wave hit and Lance braced himself, but this time no words came. An image came. Blue struggling. She was in a net. She was scared.

Lance froze as the mental picture vanished. “Blue?” he muttered.

Was she calling out for him somehow? But how?

A sharp squeak awoke him from his thoughts, and he glanced downward. The small bunnies were hopping away from him, but the biggest one beckoned him to follow. 

“Uh... okay,” Lance said as he trailed after him. “I... HEY! SLOW DOWN!”

The tiny bunnies began to pick up their pace and lead Lance through the thick foliage. The boy found it difficult to keep up and winced as he felt a branch scratch his cheek.

“Alright, I’m hoping this is important,” he muttered. “I’m going to need a few bandages after...”

“Rolo, pick up the pace!”

“I’m trying, but she keeps squirming.”

Lance froze and looked to where he heard the voices. “That sounded like Rolo and Nyma.” A loud meow was heard and Lance gasped. “And that was Blue.”

Not wasting a second, Lance chased after the voices until he got near the edge of the woods. He ducked behind the tree. The road was ahead, and Nym and Rolo were talking outside of a cargo van. 

Rolo was trying to hang onto something that was squirming in his arms. It looked like it was caught up into a net, until Nyma brought out a small cage, and he dumped a blue lumped into it.

Lance gasped as he saw Blue try to jump out, but Nyma cut her off by slamming the lid.

“My cat,” he whispered. “Those jerks took my cat.”

He heard the bunnies squeak again and looked down to see them gather around his feet. 

“You want to help?” Lance asked as they gave him nods. “Thanks, but I need bigger help for this.”

He instantly reached into his backpack, but made certain he didn’t take his eyes off of Nyma and Rolo as he brought out his walkie talkie.

“Okay, I’m hoping Hunk has his turned on,” Lance whispered.

The walkie talkie crackled for a moment, then he heard a voice loud and clear.

“Lance! Lance, come on, answer me!”

The boy sighed. “Hunk! I need help, they took Blue! They’re going to run off with my cat and...”

“Whoa, slow down!” Shiro’s voice suddenly broke in. “Lance, where exactly are you?”

“By the road,” Lance whispered. “Nyma and Rolo have Blue in a cage, and they look ready to drive off in a white cargo van.”

“Oh dear,” he heard Allura whispered.

“I knew it!” Hunk voiced yelled. “I knew they were no good...”

“Hunk, not now!” Pidge and Keith’s voices said in unison.

“Lance, listen,” Shiro replied. “You need to stay put while we come to you.”

Lance was barely listening. Rolo and picked up Blue’s cage, and Nyma opened the door. His grip tightened on the walkie talkie as he watched them put HIS CAT inside.

Another wave of fear and panic came, and this time, Lance was certain Blue was the source somehow.

“Lance, did you hear me?” Shiro asked.

Lance took a deep breath. “I did, but I can’t wait. They’re going to drive off with Blue any second.”

“I know, Lance,” Shiro continued. “But-”

“I got to go free her,” Lance continued as he went to shut off the radio. “I’ll contact you guys as soon as I’m able.”

“What?! Lance, no-”

A hard click shut off Shiro’s voice and Lance dumped the walkie talkie back into his backpack. He crept behind the bushes, trying to get closer to the van. Rolo shut the door and went to join Nyma in the front seat.

“Got to move,” Lance said as his heart beated rapidly in his chest. He raced to door, and to his relief he found it unlocked. “Looks like I have a little luck,” he muttered as he climbed inside.

He kept low to the floor so Rolo and Nyma wouldn’t see him and shut the door. A frantic meow caught his attention and he saw Blue’s cage in the corner.

“Don’t worry, girl, I’m here,” he cooed as he approached her. “I’ll get you out.”

Blue flicked her ears, and she pawed at the cage. Lance smiled back, however, his heart sank as he saw her cage had a padlock. “Great, Rolo or Nyman must have the key.”

Lance shook his head as he growled. “Fine, I’ll just carry you out in the cage. We are so getting out of...”

The engine started and the van moved. Lance was jostled to the floor. 

“No, no,” he whispered as he regained his balance. “They’re driving off.”

Lance gulped as he looked to his cat. “We might have a problem, girl.”

Blue meowed in full agreement.

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Keith snarled as he yanked at his hair. “Of all the stupid, crazy... what is Lance thinking?”

“We’ll scold him later,” Shiro gave the walkie talkie back to Hunk. “He’s in trouble and we’ve got to move.” He looked to Coran and Allura. “Do you have any idea which road Lance could be seeing?”

“Has to be the one that goes by the clinic,” Coran voiced. “It’s the only one that’s nearby.”

“Then we need to catch up and find them,” Shiro stated.

“How?” Pidge asked. “They’ve got a van; we’ll never catch them on foot.”

“We can take the van from the clinic,” Allura began to run. “They have to pass it to reach the main road, so we might be able to catch them if we hurry.”

“Then what are we waiting for!” Pidge exclaimed as she took the lead and the others quickly followed.

The kids did their best to keep up as they ducked under branches. Hunk stumbled a few times until Keith took his hand to help him keep up. Keith’s own heart was pounding, and he had no words to describe how frantic the cats looked.

They kept racing ahead, but it seemed to take all of their will to slow down to let their humans catch up. Finally, they reached the clinic.

Allura dumped her bag on the ground as she dug into her pocket. “I have the keys here.”

“Mind if I drive?” Shiro said as he held out his hands. “I use to work in the military, I know how to drive in this kind of situation.”

Allura pursed her lips, but gave a nod as she handed him the keys. “Just to warn you, it’s old,” she climbed into the passenger seat. “And I’m coming along to give directions.”

“No problem with that,” Shiro got into the driver’s seat. “Keith, you stay with Coran-”

“No!” Keith declared as he dashed past him and climbed into the back seat. “I’m coming too!”

“Me too!” Pidge climbed next to him.

“And me!” Hunk exclaimed, and before anyone could stop them all of the cats leaped into the car. Black even leaped over the seats and climbed into the front seat with Allura.

Shiro’s hand gripped on the seat as he took a deep breath. “No, you kids stay here. It’s too dangerous...”

“No way!” Keith exclaimed as Red growled from his lap. “We’re not just going to sit and wait! You may need our help!”

“Yeah, what he said!” Pidge and Hunk both chimed in.

Shiro’s eyes narrowed but he sighed as he rubbed his eyes. “Fine, we don’t have time to argue. Put your seatbelts on now!”

“Hold up!” Coran exclaimed as he dove into the back next to Hunk. “Alright, we’re all set!”

“Good, now hang on!” Shiro said as he started the engine. “And I hope no one gets carsick.”

“Why do you ask that-WHOA!” Hunk yelled and the cats dug their claws in the seats as the van sped out of the driveway.

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Lance was screwed. It was over! He was done! What to do? What to-

He forced himself to take a deep breath. As much as he wanted to panic, he had to calm down. Take one thing at a time. That’s what his dad always told him.

He glanced to the front seat. Nyma and Rolo were still facing the road, so they hadn’t realized Lance had snuck aboard yet.

“Okay,” he told Blue in a low whisper. “We’ll have to keep quiet, and uh... when they pull to a stop, I can grab you, and we’ll get out of here.”

Blue meowed. 

“I know, not a great plan,” he replied since he had no clue when they were going to stop. “But we can’t just fling ourselves out onto the road... wait.”

Maybe they weren’t driving that fast. Maybe Lance could just grab Blue and roll to the ground like he’d seen in those action movies.

Lance walked to the door, and opened it. He paled as he saw the blurred painted lines of the road.

“Nope,” he said as he shut the door. “Definitely not doing that...”

“What the hell are you doing here?!”

Lance froze and turned, full of dread as he saw Rolo’s stunned face staring back at him. Blue gave a loud growl from her cage.

“What’s going on?!” Nyma cried as she continued to drive. “Who...”

“That Lance kid is here!” Rolo exclaimed.

Nyma glanced back quickly and used curse words that Lance knew his mother would disapprove of. “How did he get in?! Didn’t you lock that door?!”

“No, because the lock’s broken!” Rolo snapped. 

“Why didn’t you fix it?!”

“It was your job!”

Lance locked eyes with Blue as they argued and dove for Blue’s cage. He would just have to risk taking the jump with Blue, but he wasn’t given the chance.

Rolo forgot the argument, jumping over the seat and grabbing Lance by the shoulder. Blue and the cage crashed to the ground, and Rolo pinned Lance to the wall.

“No funny business, kid,” Rolo snapped. “We’ve worked too hard for you to mess it up!”

Lance growled as he tried to break free. “Get off of me you cat stealer!”

Rolo scoffed. “Oh, a cat stealer? What a great insult. I shall never live it down,” he said dryly. He sighed and glanced over his shoulder. “With that said, we got a problem.”

“What problem? We’ll just dump the kid at the next stop,” Nyma snapped.

“We weren’t stopping for an hour,” Rolo argued.

“So? Just tie the brat up until we get there,” Nyma snapped.

Lance heard Blue growled and glanced over. She was not pleased. Her teeth were bared, claws were out and... she seemed almost bigger in size? What?

Rolo’s squeezed his wrist forcing Lance to focus back on his predicament.

“Listen, here is what we’re going to do,” Rolo threatened. “You are going to be a good little boy and stay quiet until we get to our stop.” He poked Lance’s nose with his finger and waved it around. “If you behave, I’ll even give your folks a call later so they’ll know where to pick you up… Ow!”

Lance bit hard on Rolo’s finger and felt a bit of pride as the man seized it back. “You are so going to regret this!” Lance yelled. 

Rolo winced and then anger flared from his eyes. “No, brat you are!” he yelled as he picked him up, and kicked the door open. Lance’s stomach dropped as Rolo forced him a few steps towards the edge.

“Listen you, I’m trying to be nice!” Rolo yelled as his hair flapped in the breeze. “So, either behave or I’m going to toss you out right now!”

His hands tightened, and Lance yelped in pain. “Ow! You’re hurting me!”

“Do you understand yet?” Rolo yelled. “No one is going to help you! So, you better...”.

A bone shaking roar echoed throughout the van. Lance forgot the pain and fear as he looked over. Blue was growling, and to Lance’s amazement, let loose another roar that he expected to came from a tiger or a lion, but it was coming from his cat.

If that wasn’t strange enough, Blue was glowing. It was a light shade of blue that was almost giving off sparks like when the gears of a machine haven’t worked in a while.

Rolo went just as still and his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “What... how is that cat doing that?”

Lance didn’t get a chance to answer. The light brightened and nearly blinded him. Metal could be heard breaking and snapping. When the light died, Lance blinked and barely could comprehend what he saw, then Rolo started to scream bloody murder.


	11. Chapter 11

Shiro made a hard turn as they got onto the road.

“Take it easy!” Coran exclaimed as he gripped the seat. “I may have just lost a lung back there!”

“No time!” Shiro shouted as he drove as fast as he could. There was no telling what kind of trouble Lance was in. He refused to...

“There it is!” Keith shouted as he pointed ahead. “The cargo van is right there!”

Shiro’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the license plate. It was definitely Rolo and Nyma’s van. 

“Allura, do you have cell coverage on your phone here?” Shiro asked as he kept behind the van. 

Allura hastily reached into her pocket and brought it out. “Yes, I have bars now.”

“Good,” Shiro stated as they made the turn. “I want you to call the police and tell them...”

His words were forgotten as the cargo van began to swerve back and forth on the road.

“What are they doing?” Pidge looked over the seat. 

“Maybe they saw us catching up to them?” Hunk suggested.

“No way, they would be speeding up if they did,” said Keith as the cats growled. “All this does is slow them down.”

Shiro’s grip tightened on the wheel. _Keith’s right, this doesn’t make any sense. It’s almost like they’re in a panic._

Suddenly, the van came to the halt and just managed to avoid rolling into a ditch. Shiro’s foot pounded on the brakes, and he held his breath as they came to a stop only a few feet from the van.

“Why did they stop?” Keith asked.

“Don’t know,” Shiro said unbuckled his seatback. “Allura, stay with the kids. Coran, you and I...”

Screams filled the air. At the exact same moment, the driver’s door swung open, as did the back doors. Rolo fell out from the back as Nyma jumped out of her seat, both of them screaming for dear life.

Shiro scratched his head as he watched the hunters run to the trees and climbed up the nearest one. “What the...”

A roar came out of the van and within seconds both doors were swung open. A blue lioness leaped out and roared again as soon as her massive paws hit the ground. She stared at the group briefly, but to Shiro’s relief she turned her head away.

Instead, she locked her gaze upon the hunters that were now clinging to the branches. The lion growled and raced over to claw at the trunk. Rolo and Nyma screamed again as they hugged each other.

“What... is... going... on?” Hunk asked.

“Well... a blue lion has leapt out of the cargo van and is now trying to attack Nyma and Rolo,” Coran stated.

“We can see that,” Allura rubbed her eyes, “but... where did that thing come from?!

“I... I don’t know,” Shiro said in a stunned tone.

Pidge raised her head and choked. “Um... why is Lance riding it?”

Shiro blinked, then saw what Pidge meant. He couldn’t believe he missed it. On the lion’s massive back was Lance. He had a hand clinging to the fur on her neck, while the other was shaking a fist at the hunters.

“Yeah! You go get them, girl!” he cried out with a laugh.

“Get it away from us!” Nyma screamed and yelped when Blue swiped a paw at her foot.

Refusing to take his eyes off of Lance, Shiro got out of the car and slowly approached. Neither the lion nor Lance seemed to notice Shiro was there. He calmed himself as he approached. He didn’t know how this happened, but he had to get Lance away from that wild animal.

“Lance?” Shiro called out.

The boy stopped his cheering, turning his head around and greeting them with a smile. “Hey, Shiro! You guys caught up?”

“Yeah,” Shiro said as he saw Allura come out of the van from from the corner of his eye. “Listen, I need you to slowly get off that lion while it’s distracted.”

The lion paused its growling and looked back to Shiro with a baffled expression. In perfect unison, Lance and the lion tilted their heads to the side.

“Huh? Shiro, what do you mean... OH! Wait!” Lance slapped his forehead. “Sorry, dude, I forgot! It’s cool!” He pointed to the lion. “It’s Blue!”

“What?!” Shiro cried as the kids stuck their heads out of the van windows.

“Yeah, I know it’s crazy, but it’s her,” Lance patted her head and the lion purred. “She was small, but then boom! She suddenly grew to be mega sized and it’s AWESOME!”

Blue moved her head to lick at Lance’s hair and caused him to laugh. “Ha! Hey, that tickles, girl!”

“I don’t care what it is!” Rolo called out from the tree branch as he clung to Nyma. “Just keep it away from us!”

Blue growled at the hunters like she was telling them to be quiet. Shiro could barely respond as he gradually turned his head back to the others.

The kids had now come out of the van with Coran, and he noticed the cats were all sheepishly poking their heads from behind the children’s legs.

“See,” Keith stated with his arms crossed. “I KNEW there was something weird going on!”

Shiro sighed as he shook his head. He was NOT going to hear the end of this from Keith for a long time.

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Admittedly, the group weren’t certain what to do with Nyma and Rolo. They convinced the hunters to climb down, but warned them that Blue would chase them if they tried to escape. Coran suggested they call the sheriff, but the kids were reluctant to do that.

“How are we going to explain that we currently have a huge lion without them wanting to call animal control to take our cats away?” Lance hugged Blue.

Allura gave a reassuring smile. “We’re not going to let them do that.”

“We’re not?” Coran said in a surprised tone. “We’re not exactly dealing with normal animals here...”

The cats and Blue growled at him.

“I meant no offense!” Coran raised his hands in defense.

“In any case,” Shiro said as he looked to Black at his feet. “It’s safe to assume that Keith was right, and the story of the cats of the Voltron Spring is real.”

Keith smirked. He was SO not going to let Shiro forget this for a long while.

“I agree,” Allura said as she hugged herself. “We better ensure not many people find out the legend is true, or they’ll go after the cats as well.”

Keith glanced over and saw all the cats, even Blue, begin to relax. Were they all worried they were going to expose them? 

_Granted, if I was guarding a magic spring, guess I would be worried too,_ he thought.

“Okay, but that still doesn’t help us with what we do about those guys?” Pidge pointed to the hunters with Green in her lap.

“What if we call the sheriff and just make certain Blue here is away from the scene when it happens?” Hunk asked.

Shiro grasped his chin. “It’s the best plan I can think of, but before we do that,” he turned to the hunters with a grim frown, “why are you two after the cats?” His eyes narrowed. “Do you want the spring?”

Rolo raised an eyebrow. “Spring? What are you talking about?”

Keith stepped forward and stood next to Shiro. “Um... the Spring of Voltron? The place that the cats are suppose to be guarding? Isn’t that why you’re after them?”

Nyma raised her hands. “Look, we don’t know about any spring. This is news to us!”

Blue growled and raised a paw.

“It’s the truth! We swear!” Rolo exclaimed. “We were just hired to come here and catch these cats alive! Nothing was said about this things TURNING INTO MONSTERS! It was a hired job!”

Black stepped in front of Shiro and glared as the hunters. “Who hired you then?” Shiro asked.

Rolo and Nyma flinched as they exchanged wary glances. “It’s better if you don’t know,” Nyma replied.

Lance scowled and patted Blue’s head. “Oh yeah? Then maybe it be better if Blue here decided to bite you guys right in the...”

“Lance,” Shiro said in a tired tone.

Rolo didn’t flinched. “Kid, not going to lie, I would pick facing your lion friend there over learning about that guy.”

“Why?” Keith asked. “Who is this guy?”

“Powerful, and someone you don’t want to double cross,” Nyma said in a serious tone. “Just pray that he decides to not go after those cats himself.”

Shiro drummed his fingers against his elbow, but sighed as he looked to Allura. “Give the sheriff a call and while you talk to him, we’re going to get Blue away from here before...”

Blue was suddenly engulfed in a bright light, and within seconds, she shrank back down to her original size. Her ears flicked in confusion as Lance’s shoulders slumped.

“Aw, so you’re not going to be a super mega lion all the time?” he asked.

Blue’s ears folded back as she looked up. Lance’s eyes softened as he cracked a smile and scooped her up.

“Aw, it’s fine, girl,” he whispered. “Easier to let you sleep in my bed this way, anyway.”

Keith blinked as he looked down to Red. “So... does this mean you can do that too?”

Red flicked her tail as she turned her head away, and Keith sensed that truthfully, she didn’t know either.

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Once Nyma and Rolo were arrested, Shiro drove everyone back to the house. To Keith’s amazement, neither Nyma nor Rolo bothered to reveal the cats’ true identity, although frankly, they probably assumed no one would believe them without proof.

The cats sat in the middle of the kitchen as everyone looked around them almost expecting them to speak, but all the cats did was meow or growl.

“Sssoo,” Hunk said with a shrug, “what do we do now?”

“What do you mean?” Lance raised an eyebrow. “We got magic cats for pets! This is awesome!”

“And apparently someone was going to pay a lot of money for them,” Keith retorted from his seat.

“Yeah, but we stopped them,” Lance shrugged. “What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that we could be seeing more people like Nyma and Rolo lurking around,” Pidge argued.

“She is right,” Coran said gently as he patted her shoulder. “I sincerely doubt we’ll be seeing the end of this anytime soon.”

For a brief moment, Keith felt his heart sink as he looked to Shiro. “Are you...going to make us get rid of them?”

Shiro hadn’t said a word since they’d gotten back, but he looked to Keith slightly surprised. “What? No,” he patted his head. “The cats aren’t dangerous. Blue wanting to protect Lance proved that.” 

Blue puffed her chest out in pride at that remark.

“Besides,” Shiro looked towards Black “even if we tried, I don’t think they would leave willingly.” 

Black flickered her ears back before butting her head under Shiro’s hand for a pat.

“Oh,” Keith said thoughtfully and tired not to look directly at Red. He felt rather relieved for some reason.

“With that said, we need to tread carefully from here on out,” Allura grasped her chin. 

“Should we tell our parents about this?” Hunk patted Yellow. “I mean... this is a big thing right?”

Allura, Coran, and Shiro exchanged concerned frowns. 

“We should eventually,” Allura said as she kneeled, “but let’s just keep this secret to ourselves until we have a better idea of what exactly these cats are capable of.”

Pidge tilted her head at the same time Green did. “And how do we do that?”

“Well, we’ll just have to study them and do a little research,” Coran said cheerfully. “I’m sure it won’t be too hard to figure out.”

“I’m not so certain on that,” Allura interjected.

As the humans continued their debate, Red stood up and walked closer to where Blue sat near the table.

 _How did you do it?_ she asked.

Blue rolled on her back to paw at the table cloth dangling over the side. _Do what?_

 _Change back into your true form,_ Green asked as she hovered. _We haven’t been able to do that since the great spirit left._

Blue paused and shut her eyes as if in deep thought. _Hmm... I don’t know._

_How can you not know?_ Red hissed. _This is crucial._

Blue rolled back up as she flicked her tail at Red. _I’m being honest. All I know is that Lance sensed I was in trouble, and when I saw HE was in danger, I knew I had to protect him._

 _So, you changed forms without thinking?_ Yellow asked.

_Yes, exactly._

Red shook her head. _That doesn’t make sense. That requires strong magic that we haven’t had access to since Voltron._

 _It was never the magic,_ Black said gently. _The spirit always insisted it was the deep connection we forged, and that we would find a way to change back without it._

Green blinked as she leaned against Blue. _And what way would that be exactly?_

 _If I were to guess,_ Black looked towards their humans. _Having a connection with our current owners._

_But they have no magic for us to tap into,_ Red argued as she watched Keith carefully.

 _Well, they must possess something,_ Yellow scratched at her ear. _Or Blue wouldn’t have changed forms in the first place._

Red went quiet at that and found her gazed locked onto Keith. It would seem both them and their human companions all had questions that needed answers.

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It was child’s play to break out of the jail cell. It was hardly the first time he and Nyma had to get out of a tight situation with the law. However, after they snuck out, got their van back, and drove out of town, Rolo knew they had a bigger problem.

Their client was waiting for results.

Rolo couldn’t care less about the money at this point. He and Nyma enjoyed a challenge, but it wasn’t worth almost getting their heads ripped off by magic crazy cats. Funny how they were never originally informed about that part.

Still, the guy wouldn’t leave Nyma and Rolo alone until he heard from their own lips what had happened. He was the type of man that would assume he and Nyma tried to run off with the cats themselves. Yet, Rolo was not thrilled about having to tell him face to face that they didn’t get the cats. Not with his violent temper.

So, question was, how would they get out of this mess? Rolo pondered this problem as they returned to the city. However, it was quickly proven they didn’t even have a choice. Mere hours after returning to their falling apart house, there was a knock at the door. 

Rolo hesitated to open it, but he did, and almost wished he was more surprised to see the giant man with a large eyepatch standing on the other side.

Rolo swallowed as Nyma gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Hey, Sendak,” he greeted with a shaky smile. “Been ages. How have you been?”

The man’s face remained humorless and he directed them to the black limousine parked on their street.

“He’s waiting for you,” Sendak stepped aside.

Rolo tried to keep from revealing the wave of panic he was feeling in the pit of his stomach as he and Nyma stepped out. Sendak trailed behind them and as soon as the side door opened, practically shoved the two of them inside.

Nyma cursed and looked prepared to yell at the guy, but Rolo covered her mouth. Two figures sat across from them. An old woman with long hair, wearing a long black coat, and a much larger man with a scarred face who looked ready to strangle anyone that so much as annoyed him.

“Zarkon,” Rolo greeted with a forced smile as Nyma settled next to him. “We... uh, we were just about to call you.”

Zarkon tapped his fingers on the tip of a long cane. “Were you? According to Haggar’s informants you have been home for over two hours.”

Rolo resisted the urge to scowl at the smirking woman. If anyone fit the image of a scary witch from those old fairy tales, Haggar would.

“We... had some complications,” Nyma stammered. “We...”

“Did you get the cats?” Haggar pointed at them. 

“No,” Nyma said coolly as her eyes narrowed. “But you didn’t properly prepare us.”

Rolo tensed. Oh, no. Nyma was in an arguing mood. Normally, he would support her in situations like this, but these were NOT regular people to do it with. “Nyma...” he hissed.

“Oh?” Zarkon asked in his deep voice as he rotated his shoulders. “I thought catching a group of wild cats would be child’s play for you two.” 

“Normal cats would be,” Nyma shot back, “but you didn’t say anything about one of them... being able to turn into a lion!”

Rolo sucked the air in between his teeth. Crud, Crud. There was no way Zarkon was going to buy this story. The man was an odd collector, but he wasn’t stupid.

Except, much to Rolo’s shock, Zarkon was quiet. The man’s eyes widened slightly, then narrowed.

“Turned into s lion?” he asked.

Rolo cleared his throat. “Well, see those cats got adopted by a bunch of kids, and when we messed with one of them, the blue cat somehow changed into a full size lion.” He gave a nervous laugh. “Crazy, right?”

There was no humor on Zarkon’s face. Gradually, he turned his face to Haggar’s. “Were you aware of this ability?”

“No,” Haggar grasped her chin. “However, it does fit the legend, and it only further proves we are on the right path.”

“Right path?” Nyma asked. “Wait, are you two talking about that spring...”

Haggar and Zarkon both shot Nyma a murderous look that made Rolo’s blood run cold. It was the kind of expression a wild animal had before ripping their prey to pieces. Rolo gripped Nyma’s hand as his mind desperately tried to make an escape route.

_Could make a run for it! No, doors are locked. Take on Zarkon while Nyma... NO way the guy’s huge, and there’s Sendak too. Maybe..._

His thoughts were interrupted as Zarkon rammed his cane right in between them and made a hole in the seat.

“As of now, you two are fired,” he said coldly. “I will grant you at least a fifth of what I would have paid you to complete your task, but know this.” He leaned forward and loomed over the two of them. “Tell anyone what you spoke of here, and you will answer to me.”

Rolo gulped as he nodded. “Understood, Sir.”

Zarkon lean back in his chair. “The payment will be transferred to your account in two days time,” he pointed to the door. “Now get out of my sight!”

Rolo scrambled to get out of the car and almost fell over as Nyma climbed out behind him. They clung to each other as Sendak stared at them, shutting the door, before climbing into the driver’s seat, and drove away.

Nyma’s grip lessened after the limousine was out of sight, and she looked to Rolo. “What just happened?”

“We just barely got out of this mess with our limbs attached,” he muttered and shook his head. 

He honestly felt bad for those kids now. They had no idea what was coming their way.

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Keith let his legs dangle over the porch swing as he watched the sunset. Red was currently snoozing in his lap as Keith lazily ran his fingers over her soft fur.

The others had gone home hours ago, and Keith still felt like he was in the middle of some kind of dream. He had been suspicious, but having seen Blue transform in front of his own eyes was still unbelievable. 

They had all agreed they would keep the cats’ ‘true identity’ a secret for now. Hunk had seemed uneasy at the thought of not telling his parents the full truth, but Keith understood the reasoning. There was a chance Hunk or Lance’s parents would insist on taking the cats away because they posed a danger to the kids.

That wasn’t true. Keith was certain if Red or any of the other cats had wanted to hurt them, they would have done so by now. Besides, Blue had become a lion to protect Lance. If that wasn’t enough evidence, he didn’t know what was. Still, Allura deduced it would be simpler and more reassuring once they had gathered more data on what the cats were.

Although, Keith still had no idea how they were going to obtain that. Then, there was that other matter that was still hunting them.

Who exactly hired Rolo and Nyma to hunt the cats? Did he or she know about the cats and the spring? What were they after?

“Hey,” Shiro came through the door with Black beside him, “want to come in for dinner?”

Keith narrowed his eyes. “Is it burnt?”

“What?” Shiro crossed his arms. “No.”

Keith kept staring as Red raised her head.

“... It’s mostly not burnt,” Shiro took a seat next to him, and Black hopped up onto his lap.

Keith cast a glance to the cat before looking up at his cousin. “Pretty insane, huh? All of this talk of magic and stuff?”

“Agreed,” Shiro leaned back and looked out into the forest. “Does make you wondered what else could be out there.”

Keith straightened his posture as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “You worried?”

Shiro tiled his head and ruffled Keith’s hair. “Not too much. I’m fairly certain we can handle anything that comes our way.” 

Both Black and Red gave a firm meow as they raised their heads.

“Correction, I’m certain THEY can handle it,” Shiro lowered his hand to scratch under Black’s chin.

Keith nodded as he stared at their cats. “I wonder if Red will get big like that.”

Shiro’s smile vanished and frowned. “I don’t know, kiddo,” he said, “but I don’t want you looking for trouble to find out, okay?” He rested his arm on the back of the swing. “I can’t predict what will happen, but I need you to come to me, or Allura, or Coran, if something doesn’t feel right.”

“What if I can handle it by myself?” Keith asked, thoughtfully. He was more than capable of taking care of himself.

“Keith,” Shiro said in a firm tone, “you’re a kid, and it’s my job, as the adult, to keep you guys safe. Understand?”

Keith opened his mouth, but Shiro’s hard stare made him shut it. After a moment, Keith sighed as he slumped in the seat. “Alright, I promise.”

Shiro smiled as his shoulders dropped and returned to stare at the sunset. “Good, that’s all I needed to here.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Man, and I thought the countryside was suppose to be quiet.”

Keith wrinkled his nose as he placed his hands into his lap and stroked Red.

“Do you regret moving here, Shiro?” he asked.

Shiro stroked Black’s head, and she gave a content purr in response. “No, despite the... unexpected situation we’ve found ourselves in, I don’t.” He looked to Keith. “You?”

Keith frowned and found himself glancing to Red who was staring up at him. “No,” Keith said. “It’s weird, but... at least we won’t be bored.”

Shiro chuckled as he wrapped an arm around Keith shoulders. “No, and I’ve got a feeling things are only going to get more ‘interesting’ from here on out.”

Keith smiled as he leaned against Shiro and scratched Red’s ear. He didn’t know what lay ahead, but tonight he was happy, and Keith knew he was going to enjoy this summer.


End file.
